Fantasy
by StarCannon
Summary: An accident on a dark country road causes Clark and Lana to be transported into a world full of magic, wonder, and danger. Will they ever be able to leave?
1. Uno

DISCLAIMER: I just own the plot and a few of the outlandish characters.

Ok, SORRY I waited so long to post, all you people who read the preview to this fic that I've been writing since like the birth of Christ! If I could, I'd hug each and everyone of you because you're what kept this lil steam engine going.

So, in honor of that, I dedicate 'Fantasy' to those who read the preview. I really hope that all of you enjoy this (But if you don't happen to like it, please let me know! I am all for constructive criticism, but NOT flames. If you wanna send flames, I know I lil place down under that would be happy to have you…).

I could say more, but I won't because I know about 2/3s of you have already skipped this whole author's note crap and cut right down to the fic, and the other 1/3 are going cross-eyed because their so bored, waiting for me to shut up.

Well, all right…you 1/3s can go ahead and go - enjoy! cuts ribbon

* * *

The boisterous crowd chanted a countdown as the timer on the scoreboard pulled the game to a close. When it finally fell down to zero, a loud honk from the speakers officially finished the battle of the Smallville Crows versus the San Dusky Bulldogs in the last football playoff game of the season. The final score – 35 to 0. The Crows had pulled it off again.

The sea of people shouted and hollered, but Clark could hear none of it. Sure, on his face he painted a bright, happy smile, but his soul wasn't exactly behind it. It was great that they'd won the game and were moving on to state. It was amazing that thousands of people had come together to catch him, the starting quarterback, play another unbelievable game.

Yet, there was something missing. His eyes darted all across the bleachers in front of him for it.

It was Lana.

His many teammates rushed up around him, joyously slamming him on the back and giving him a few words of encouragement (none of which he comprehended). He continued to scan the stands.

Where was she?

Or better yet: Why did he care?

He wasn't exactly sure about the answers to either of these. What he did know was that until he saw Lana Lang, smiling for him – and only him – he wouldn't be truly happy about winning the game.

Meanwhile, in the back of the bleachers trying his best to fit in, Mikail Mxyzptlk stood darkly. His original plan was for Smallville to lose. And if it had been his wish, the whole town of Smallville would not be celebrating right now. However, his loyal customers who fed off gambling with him had almost all bet that San Dusky was going to win. So, naturally, he had to make sure that would never happen. A flicker of a smile flashed across his face when he remembered how much money he'd just won - $20,000. Still, it was only scraps compared to his usual days at the horse tracks.

And today was most definitely not a usual day. For the first time in his life, someone in the game had resisted his powers. Normally, if he told someone to slip, they slipped. If he said "catch", they caught it - but not that one boy. That star quarterback – Clark Kent. Oh, yes. There was something extraordinary about him.

He remembered over hearing a conversation between him and one of his friends a few days before at school. He couldn't remember anything about Clark being abnormal, but he did recall his friend talking about a girl…Lana…Lana Lang. They were teasing Clark about her, and Mikail remembered him feeling very embarrassed - acting as if he was crushing on the girl.

"How cute…" Mikail muttered under his breath. He knew from experience that a crush on a girl hurts when you're too afraid to admit it. And if you let a moment slip by…you may regret it for the rest of your life…

…so why not have a little fun? Let's just see how well Clark can resist Mikail's powers twice in one day…

"Wooo!"

Clark heard the shout and immediately knew who it was - Chloe Sullivan. She was jumping next to the bleachers as if hot coals were under her feet and there standing next to her, looking just as happy, was Lana. Clark's smile grew.

He walked over to them, trying to remain calm. He hugged Chloe (or rather Chloe hugged him - both were too happy to tell who moved in first), and then he turned to Lana, hoping that she'd allow him to give her a hug also. That's all he needed…a simple hug…just enough to show him that she was still his friend.

"Kiss her," Mikail muttered under his breath.

Clark felt an unusual urge from the pit of his stomach, but threw it away quickly.

"Kiss her, Clark," Mikail stated louder and more firmly.

The urge suddenly surged back at him, harder this time, and like a magnet, Clark's lips shot towards Lana's. His eyes widened, surprised at his own action. A few people around them fell silent, knowing from the rumors around school that Clark and Lana had broken up almost a year ago. The rest of the crowd however (mostly parents or kids who knew nothing of the rumors or even knew who Clark and Lana were) joined in a great "Awwwww!" Whistles from a few students also arose.

Mikail could hardly contain his laughter.

Clark felt extremely embarrassed and pulled away from Lana as quickly as possible, cheeks reddening. He swallowed hard at Lana's reaction – stunned and confused.

"Lana, I…I…"

"Yo, Clark! Way to go there, buddy!"

"Whoa! Clark Kent the Pimp!"

Before Clark could even begin to explain what had just happened, his teammates were jostling him into the locker rooms. Clark could no longer paint a smile on his face. All he could think about were Lana's lips…and how much he'd missed them.

"Lana, what the hell was Clark doing?"

"I-I..I don't know…" She swallowed and looked around at everyone who was now staring at her. "Let's just go."

"Don't you want to wait and see what Clark's problem is? Why did he kiss you like that?" Chloe wondered, feeling more curious then ever.

"No. Clark's confused me more then enough times. I don't care why he did it. It isn't going to bring us back together." She turned around, pushing her way through the crowds as she added, "Come on."

In the locker room, Clark hurriedly pulled off his jersey and slipped on his clothes. He had to get out and talk to Lana before she left in disgust.

But what should he say? That some unknown force pulled his face to hers? Sure, he could believe it, but Lana would never be that gullible. Still, he had to talk to her again. He had to convince her it was a complete mistake.

"So, Clark. That was a great game you played out there."

Clark whirled around only to see Mikail – the foreign exchange student who'd just enrolled at Smallville High. His strong accent reminded Clark of Count Dracula, and that thought always seemed to cause him to be overly cautious around Mikail.

"Thanks," Clark muttered as he pulled a white T-shirt over his head.

"That was also a…great kiss at the end. Almost like a fairy tale don't you think?" Mikail walked over to the nearest set of lockers and leaned against them. "Boy loves girl. Boy becomes popular to be with girl. Boy kisses girl. Girl loves boy. And they live happily ever after, no?"

"No."

"Really?"

"First off, I didn't become popular for Lana. Second, I didn't mean to kiss her. And third," Clark announced, slamming his locker shut and picking up his bag, "she doesn't love me anymore." And with that, Clark made his way to the locker room door.

"You missed one."

Clark stopped and turned around in annoyance. "What?"

"Well you pretty much shot down most of the story except for the part about the boy loving the girl." Mikail smiled knowingly. "You love her."

"I – " Clark changed his gazed from Mikail to the ground, then back up again. "I have to go."

"Good luck getting Lana. I'm sure your fairy tale will turn out all right in the end."

Clark pushed through the locker door and left quickly.


	2. Dos

Just to let you know, I'm planning to update this everyday at about 8 PM central time. Gives me a good 24 hours to make sure the next part is as good as I can get it.

Thanks for the replies so far!

SonicH2O: Jason and Lois do exist as this fic is going on, but neither one are actually _in_ the fic. lol. Hopefully as you keep reading you'll get what I mean. lol

* * *

A week passed and still Clark felt stupid about the unexpected kiss after the game last Friday. Lana hadn't spoken to him since and avoided standing, sitting, or even being in the same room as him for as much as possible. He didn't know why she was this negative about it. Maybe that kiss really did something to her. Then again, she was a girl. He never understood girls. Not even with Lex's help. 

During fourth hour that day, Clark found his way to the Torch office to finish a story he'd been typing up for the newspaper. As he opened the door, he noticed Chloe's excited face beaming up at him from the nearest computer.

"Why do you look so happy?" he wondered, dropping his backpack on the couch.

"The new student."

"Mikail?"

"No, the other one," Chloe explained, still smiling. She looked at the screen and then added, "His name's Ira Billings."

"And I'm guessing from the smirk on your face that you two are pretty friendly," Clark teased with a grin.

"Not yet…but I can hope."

Clark shook his head and sat down in front of the computer next to Chloe. He sighed as the last remnants of his smile faded.

"What's up?" Chloe asked with worry.

Clark looked at her and then quickly looked back at the back monitor. "It's just Lana…I've been trying to talk to her – to apologize for last Friday – but she keeps avoiding me."

"Not that I'm picking sides here, but don't you think Lana has a point? I mean you've changed the game so many times. How is she suppose to keep up with your feelings?" Chloe asked, hoping she wasn't touching any sensitive nerves.

"I know. I know…but honestly, I didn't mean to kiss her. It was like my mouth just…had a will of it's own." Clark stopped talking when he realized how stupid he sounded. "I don't know…she's right I guess. I don't blame her…"

There was a long pause in which both Chloe and Clark felt very uncomfortable. Finally, a sharp knock at the door broke the silence.

"It's open," Chloe shouted.

The door opened slowly and a guy with dark hair and a tired expression poked his head into the office. He then walked fully in and shut the door behind him. He smirked dumbly as he uttered, "Hi, I'm Ira. The new kid." His voice was deep and almost mysterious.

Clark stood and shook Ira's hand. "Hey, I'm Clark Kent."

"And I'm Chloe Sullivan. I've been waiting for you," Chloe said, laughing for no apparent reason. Ira laughed also, just to seem polite.

Clark swallowed, feeling as though he had just become the third wheel. "Well, um, I suppose I should let Chloe help you around school. I'll see ya." He turned back towards Chloe and added, "Would you mind talking to Lana about you know what? She'll listen to you…"

Chloe sighed with a grin. "Sure, Clark. You owe me one though."

"Thanks, Chloe." And with that, Clark grabbed his bag and left.

"So…" she began shutting off the computer she'd just been on, "I heard you were home-schooled until now."

"Yeah. I've never been to a public school. It sounded kinda scary. I didn't really wanna go, but my parents are getting older and can't teach me as well anymore," Ira explained in his almost hypnotic tone of voice.

"Well, trust a girl who's been going to public school since kindergarten – unless you wear plaid and go ga-ga over a cheerleader you can't have, you won't have any problems here," Chloe joked.

"Wasn't your friend Clark wearing plaid?" Ira asked pointing his thumb back at the door.

"Yeah…kind of an inside joke. Sorry."

"It's okay." Ira began to walk around the office until he spotted a wall covered with newspaper clippings and magazine covers. "What's this?"

"It's called the Wall of Weird. Anything and everything strange that has happened in Smallville is up there. Most of it was caused by the meteor showers that hit fifteen years ago, but some of it has yet to be connected." She noticed Ira's confused look. "I guess I'm a little obsessed…"

"No, I think it's amazing." He gazed at the pictures and then stopped at one, putting a finger on it. "You have Mikail on here?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

Ira swallowed and explained. "Yes. We've spoken from time to time."

"Well, he hasn't actually done anything yet, but he's pretty closed off, gambles and never loses. There has to be something behind that story," Chloe explained walking up next to Ira.

"Of course." He turned toward Chloe and smiled softly. "And I suppose within the next few days you're going to have a picture of me put up there, eh?"

Chloe laughed. "Maybe. Can you freeze things with your hands or morph into anyone you'd like?"

Ira shook his head with humor. "No, not exactly."

"Then I guess I have no reason to pin you up there."

"Are you sure?"

Just then, Chloe turned and found herself completely surrounded by hissing rattlesnakes. Each one was long and slimy, glaring it's beady yellow eyes upon her. Ira was no where to be seen. Her eyes widened and she looked in all directions in hysteria.

"Oh my God! W-what the hell? What's going on! How did I – " Chloe's head was spinning and she instantly grabbed her digital camera, snapping pictures of the fork-tongued creatures as if her life depended on it. She wasn't leaving the Torch without proof.

After about the hundredth picture she took, Chloe felt a hand grab her arm and shake her. A voice went along with it.

"Chloe! Chloe, what's the matter?"

And, just a magically as they appeared, the snakes were gone. Not one was at her feet. Her hands shook as she looked up at Ira who had been calling her earlier.

"What's wrong? You just got really weird and started taking pictures of everything," Ira said, looking at her strangely.

Chloe looked down at her camera and flipped through the pictures she'd just taken. All of them were empty photos of the couch, the computers, half of Ira's face…not one had a rattlesnake in it.

"I…I…I don't know…"

"Why don't you go down to the nurse. I can find my way around the school."

Chloe, still dazed, nodded and slowly made her way out of the office. As soon as she left, Ira's fake concerned look pulled back into an evil grin.

He then left the office himself in search for his best friend, Mikail.


	3. Tres

Just in case you didn't read the preview I had up, Ira is actually a borrowed character from Batman Beyond. He's also known as Spellbinder, my favorite villain ever (cept for Lex of course).

Thanks a bunch for your kind reviews!

Ok folks...this is when the 'fantasy' really begins...

* * *

That night, Lana lay wide-awake in bed, worrying. Not worrying about things like school or work, but the very last thing she ever wanted to be worried about – Clark. 

Ever since Friday, she'd considered him an invisible man. She no longer wanted to see or have any to do with him. He was playing with her feelings – making her believe he was the one she needed. How was she ever suppose to find who her real true love was if all she thought about was Clark? Was she wasting time by thinking about him? Or was it a lost cause trying to find someone else when he really was the one she needed?

"Hey…Lana?"

She slowly looked up from her spot on the bed and noticed Chloe leaned against the door frame, knocking on the bedroom door quietly.

"Hey. Come on in."

She pulled herself up into a ball, her arms wrapped around her knees, and Chloe cautiously sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Couldn't sleep?" Lana wondered.

"Everytime I try, I keep seeing those disgusting snakes. Ira's definitely going to earn his spot on the Wall of Weird ASAP. I actually fell asleep for about five minutes a while ago and ended up dreaming that I was in the pit from Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Lana smiled weakly.

"What's bothering you?"

"Oh…" Lana swallowed uncomfortably. "Just everything…I use to call Jason in the middle of the night sometimes when I felt like this. We'd talk for hours before I'd finally go to sleep. And now we broke up and it's just…hard to get any sleep without those calls…"

"Lana, it's been two months since the whole Jason phase. I thought you told me he was a French water rat who no longer meant anything to you," Chloe stated with a smirk.

Laughing, Lana shrugged. "He was…he is…" She then flipped a piece of hair out of her face. "…I guess it wasn't the fact that it was Jason I called…it was just…that I had somebody there to talk to whenever I needed. Day or night I had someone to lean on."

"Am I invisible here?" Chloe asked, pretending to be offended. "Was it not me that offered you this room to stay in when you decided to repaint your apartment two weeks ago? Is it not me that you're leaning on right now?"

"Yes, you're right. And I am indescribable grateful," Lana said nicely, "but…girl talk is different then…"

"Girl-guy talk?"

Lana nodded, then began to trace over the Happy Bunny designs on her pajama pants with her finger.

'Time to put Clark's favor into action,' Chloe thought as she moved into a more comfortable position. "What about Clark?"

Surprised, Lana looked up at her friend. "Clark?"

"Yeah, last time I checked he was a guy."

"I know…" She went back to tracing the bunnies. "…we're not really on that great of terms right now, though."

"Come on, Lana. We both know that Clark can be a bit strange sometimes, but deep down he's only ever just trying to do the right thing."

At first, Lana considered her friend's words, then looked up at her curiously. "He told you to tell me that, didn't he?"

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but Lana's stare stopped her and she sighed defeatedly. "Okay, I admit that he wanted me to talk to you. But seriously, Lana, you have know idea how heartbroken he is right now."

"Why should I care? It was him who kissed me, not the other way around."

"I know and I don't even think _he_ knows why he did that." Chloe took a breath, hoping she didn't regret what she was about to say. "And even if he did, you keep running away from him and not even giving him a chance to explain. The least you can do is go talk to the guy."

It was quiet as Lana considered this.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow at school…maybe."

Chloe nudged her friend playfully. "Gees, you have got to be the most stubborn person I've ever met. If I didn't know you better, I'd say your just avoiding him because you don't want to admit the memories that kiss brought back from last summer."

"And if I didn't know you better I'd say you are entirely too nosy for your own good," Lana joked, giving Chloe a smile.

"Well, I better leave you alone so you can sort out what you want to say to that bonehead – I mean guy."

"It's all the same isn't it?"

Both the girls shared a short laugh before Chloe got up and exited the room.

Lana finally sighed and turned onto her stomach, making a weak attempt to calm herself down. It wasn't working. In her heart, she knew that avoiding Clark was making it worse. Whether he deserved it or not, she had to talk to him. Sooner than later.

She glanced at her clock – 11:55. She hoped he would still be up.

* * *

Clark sat up suddenly in his sleep, sweat drenching his clothes and face. He took in large gulps of air before slowly lowering himself back down into his bed. 

He'd had the nightmare again. Everytime he had stress or worry in his life, the nightmare always seemed to come back into him…haunting him. Even when he was a little toddler he could remember waking up screaming because of it.

It always went the same way:

A dark blackness engulfed him and cold chills ran up his spine like ice. He could hear muffled noises moaning somewhere in the distance. After a few moments, the moans became clearer…

It was his mom…

His dad…

Lana…

Everyone he loved...

They were all calling out to him…begging for him to save them…

But as soon as he tried to move to help, the blackness exploded into a bright white oblivion. A figure stood in front of him…huge and menacing, it reminded Clark of the Grim Reaper. It's face was forever concealed in it's dark hood. Whether it had the face of a monster or of Tweety Bird Clark was unable to tell, but in all the years he had dreamt of it, Clark never wished to know what was behind that hideous black clothing. The thing was scary enough just standing there in front of him.

When it spoke, it's voice was wispy and rough like dry ice. It pointed scornfully at Clark with it's long dangling fingers.

"_Look at what you've done…everyone you loved is in danger in it's all your fault. You caused this havoc. You caused the meteor shower that brought this on them…you should've never been born…you weren't meant for a world like Earth…you're nothing but an unwanted alien…"_

"I'm sorry Lana…I'm sorry mom and dad…Pete…Chloe…I'm so sorry…" Clark feel to his knees. He wept endlessly as the screams of help from his friends and family cried out to him.

Hard metal chains wrapped around Clark like vines and tightened on his arms and legs. He begged them to stop, but they only pulled tighter and forced Clark forward to the feet of the Phantom. It was laughing now.

"Please…leave me alone!"

The white fire behind the Phantom burned and crackled and Clark swore he could actually feel its heat radiating off his face. The chains pulled and tugged, dragging the weakened Clark closer to the fiery hotness…

Now, Clark was lying in his bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

He hated that Phantom. He hated it and everything it told him. He never meant to hurt Lana. It wasn't his fault.

But deep in the back of his mind, he couldn't deny that the Phantom was right. If the meteor shower never came, people would be better off. Why did he have to be here on Earth? Why couldn't he just have died on impact? Then he wouldn't have to feel so left out and rejected even by the people who claimed to love him…

Clark sighed and turned to look at the picture on his nightstand. It was Lana's junior year picture. It was stuck in a frame that was too big for it, but it was the only one he could find without asking his mother and sounding like a love-struck little kid. As long as it was propped up so he could she her beaming face staring at him each morning and night, it looked absolutely perfect to him.

Reaching out to touch her cheek delicately, Clark smiled. Even when he felt as terrible as he did right now, Lana was there to help him stand again. Even when she was angry with him, she was there.

He remembered the kiss at the football game. She still hadn't talked to him. It was beginning to get a little ridiculous. It was one tiny kiss! She had to realize that.

'I have to talk to her…I'll never get any sleep if I don't. This whole thing has triggered that stupid Phantom dream again…I have to get through to her somehow,' Clark told himself determinedly.

He stood up, feeling a little nervous, but determined to not to back down. He had to speak to Lana.

* * *

"Keep driving. How are we suppose to get to the game in time if you don't speed up?" Mikail snapped angrily. 

"I'm driving as fast as I can. There are cops around, ya know," Ira yelled back.

The two then became silent. What they were doing was risky, but it had to be done. Mikail had made a few bets on a Metropolis Sharks game and in order to get his way, he had to be at the game.

Ira had offered to drive him because he'd also made a few bets with people and wanted to do a little manipulating of his own. Testing out his abilities on Chloe only confirmed his thoughts. Maybe he could hypnotize the Sharks into thinking that the opposing team was a bunch of fire-breathing dragons. Whatever he came up with, he knew it would work and he knew it would make Mikail and him rich.

"Keep going…keep going…" Mikail was continually looking behind him to make sure that no police cars were following them. After all – Ira was driving 90 miles per hour on a country road.

"Relax nobody's gonna be out here at midnight," Ira explained, clicking on the cruise control.

"Shit, I think there's one," Mikail exclaimed, not listening to anything Ira had been saying.

"Nu uh. Where?" Ira glanced in his review mirror. After realizing he still couldn't see what Mikail was talking about, Ira twisted his head around. "Dude, where is it?"

"Hm, must've been a – " Mikail turned his head back towards the front. Just then, he noticed a raven-haired girl walking along the road. "IRA LOOK OUT!"

Lana looked up in horror as two blazing headlights began flying towards her. She screamed and tried to move, but her legs were frozen to the ground. She was going to die. Her last memory would be those two lights and the two guys in the car. She was leaving the world in three…two…

"Lana!"

Clark's voice came from somewhere and she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap tight around her. She fell hard to the ground and closed her eyes. Her eyelids filled with a bright white light and her head was pounding. The arms were still enveloping her protectively and she wrapped her arms around them also. A loud rush filled her ears and made her feel as though she was directly under a screaming freight train. And then, in a matter of seconds, everything left. The light and the sound were gone.

Lana was still clinging to the arms and closing her eyes. Was she dead? Was this what death felt like? If it did, this certainly didn't feel too bad….

"Lana?"

She opened her eyes cautiously.

Clark was the object that she was clinging to, his arms linked tightly around her waist. His face was worried. "Are you okay?"

"I guess." Lana stood and began to brush herself off.

Clark stood also, but didn't take the time to clean himself off. He looked around him curiously. Under his breath, he thought aloud, "Where are we…?"

Lana looked up at him, hoping he didn't have amnesia, but suddenly she noticed her surroundings and found herself asking the same question.

They were in the middle of a large field full of bright green grass. Where the country road had been that connected Smallville to Clark's farm, there was now a narrow path of yellow dust winding around the field. The sky was a beautiful shade of pale blue and the sun shined as bright as Lana had ever seen it.

"Where's that car? Where's Smallville?"

"I have…no idea…" Clark asked, concern dwelling in his tone.

"What are we suppose to do?" Lana wondered curiously.

"We have to find out where we are first," Clark explained. He looked down at each end of the dusty road in turn.

"How are we – "

"Lana, I think we would save a lot of time not asking questions that we know we'll never get the answers to."

Lana frowned angrily. "I'm sorry, Clark. Getting hit by a car and then being magically sucked into Teletubby World doesn't usually happen to me. I'm a little scared."

"Look, Lana, I know you don't really want to talk to me right now, but we have to stay together until we find stuff out. I think it'd be a lot easier if we didn't argue," Clark urged.

"I'm not arguing. You're the one that's being all macho and pretending you're not worried about our current situation."

"I am worried - very worried. If I wasn't worried I wouldn't be trying to figure out which way we should go on this damn road!" Clark snapped, pointing in each direction of the yellow dust path.

"Well, which ever way you go, I'm going the opposite," Lana stated, folding her arms.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to talk to you."

"Why?"

Lana sighed, her temper growing shorter. "Just leave me alone." She quickly turned on her heel and randomly selected a direction in which to walk down the road.

"Did you not just hear me when I said we should stay together?" Clark wondered as she walked.

Lana didn't show any sign that she even heard him.

"Lana? Come on, Lana!" He ran up behind her and stood in her way. She tried to walk around him, but he blocked her every time.

"Argh! Clark! Leave me alone! Why can't you ever understand when somebody tells you to leave them ALONE!" Lana buried her face in her hands. She suddenly felt very tired and upset.

"Lana…Lana, I'm sorry."

She turned away, not wanting him to see the tears she was letting slide down her cheeks.

"Lana, please don't cry." He drew her into a hug. She was too shaken up to resist. "You're right. We'll go wherever you want. As long as we go together, okay? I don't want to lose you."

"No, don't apologize. God, I'm sorry I yelled I just…I'm really tired I guess."

"Maybe we can find somewhere to stay for a while and rest."

Lana nodded and looked up at the sky with curiosity.

"Why is it so bright out? Wasn't it midnight only a few minutes ago?" Lana rubbed her eyes which were now swollen and red.

"Well, this place doesn't exactly give off any signs of normal…which is why I don't want to stop moving until we find some safe place to stay." He noticed Lana's distressed look and frowned sympathetically. "But if you're too tired we can wait a while out here. You can sleep and I'll keep watch."

"No, I won't be able to sleep not knowing what else is out here." She sighed and nodded. "You're right. We have to keep moving."

"Then let me carry you."

Lana looked over at Clark strangely. "What?"

"If I carry you, we'll be moving and you'll get some sleep at the same time."

She was silent for a moment. She _was_ pretty sleepy…

"As long as you don't drop me or anything…"

Clark smiled. "I promise I won't drop you."

Lana found herself smiling also. It was odd how Clark could lighten her spirits with only a simple gesture such as a smile.

He bent down and scooped Lana into his arms with ease. He tried to make it look as difficult as possible so as she wouldn't suspect anything, but after a few moments he found himself no longer pretending. His arms really felt like jelly under her thighs and back. He figured it was because she was suddenly so close to him- all he had to was move his mouth two inches and he'd meet hers.

She smiled meekly, then leaned her head onto his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. Within a few moments she was sound asleep.

Clark took a deep breath and stepped forward towards the unknown path in front of him.

* * *

The long screech of the tires pierced their eardrums and caused both Mikail and Ira to jolt forward, their faces only centimeters from the windshield. When the car finally came to a halt, Ira looked around reluctantly for the people in front of them, expecting to see a very gory sight. 

"Where'd they go?" Mikail asked, still a little shaken.

Ira looked down with confusion. His brain felt like it was spinning and his palms were sweating. Eyes widening, he shook his head slowly.

"No…no…this couldn't have…they couldn't have been taken…"

"What the hell are you talking about? Taken where?" Mikail asked with fear.

Ira turned to his friend with fear in his eyes. His voice was barely audible. "Sogni Dromen."

"What's Soggy Dogmen?"

"No - Sogni Dromen! It's place in the mind…a place of no real existence…" Ira swallowed lump in his throat and ran a hand through his damp hair. "Oh man…this is not good…"

"What the HELL are you talking about, Ira! Where - are – they! I want a real answer!" Mikail's worry was driving his nerves into terror.

"We're in trouble. If we don't find a way to get them back into Smallville, we're in big trouble…"

"No shit! We just made two kids disappear!" Mikail shouted unbelievably. "It's impossible. I can't even do that with my powers!"

"No...Mikail it _is_ possible. With both of us using our powers together...it is very possible..." Ira said, shaking. He then turned his attention back towards the road, taking a breath. He began to speak to himself. "My great-grandmother…said something about Sogni Dromen…what was it…"

"You have a shit-load of crap to explain to me," Mikail stated seriously. "Tell me where they are…and tell me how we get them back."

Ira didn't answer his friend for a few moments. He stared at the stirring wheel in a deep trance. Finally, he looked up at Mikail with determination.

"We have to visit my great-grandmother. Now."

After Mikail finally calmed down and let Ira's words sank in, Ira started up the engine and the large pick-up rumbled back down the country road to Ira's great-grandmother's house.

This time, they were driving at the speed limit.


	4. Cuatro

Earlier update because have to do a crap-load of studying for my geometry test that will most likely take the rest of the night.

Thank you thank you thank you so much for the kind replies!

* * *

It seemed like they had been traveling for days and still there was nothing but lush, green fields surrounding Clark and Lana. He stopped walking and sighed loudly. Lana began to stir.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a daze, wiping her eyes of sleep.

"I think I'm walking around in circles," Clark said depressingly.

"What?" Lana squirmed a little and Clark slowly set her back on the ground.

"If you follow this road, it curves into a complete oval. It gets us no where." Clark paused before adding. "This place is really creeping me out…"

"Me too. But, hey, it could be worse. We could be walking around in the darkness," Lana stated optimistically, giving Clark an encouraging grin.

"Yeah…" He looked around, still confused, "but that's another thing…I had to have been walking around for hours. The sun hasn't even moved in the sky. It's like we're frozen in time or something."

Lana noticed this also and turned around to look in each direction, hoping to see something besides green grass. It was beginning to get annoying.

By now, Clark's mind was constructing up ways to find a way out this field. Unfortunately, most of the plans he came up with required the use of his powers. He glanced over at Lana, trying to guess what her reaction would be if he just sped off. Maybe she would…

neh…she would definitely freak out.

But then again…this _was_ a weird place. If he used his powers, he could just act like the atmosphere allowed him to do it…

"Lana – "

_"You! Come here!"_

Clark's head darted in the direction of where he heard the strange voice.

"Yes, Clark?" Lana acknowledged.

He turned back towards her. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"_Come you must!"_

"That!" Clark snapped becoming more alert.

Lana looked over her shoulder and gasped. "Look, Clark!"

He turned and followed her gaze to a patch of thick pine trees that weren't there before. They were tall and about five times as thick as a normal tree. Their roots enter-twined and overlapped each other, making makeshift arches in the grass. And there, huddled behind one of the biggest trees, was a pair of big blue eyes. A small, shriveled hand stretched out next to the eyes and waved, beckoning Clark and Lana to come closer.

_"Come quickly, humans!"_

Lana looked up at Clark with confusion. He looked down at her with a brave twinge in his eye and then grasped her hand in hers. "Might as well follow it."

Because she was too bewildered to argue, Lana let Clark lead her towards the newly appeared woods. As soon as they reached the first of the roots, however, the blue eyes flew off deeper into the forest.

"Where'd it go?" Clark asked, holding Lana's hand like a precious gem.

"I don't know…is it just me, or does it feel like we've been sucked into a Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter novel?" Lana asked jokingly, trying to drive the fear out of her body.

_"Come! Come!" _

"It's over here. Let's go," Clark murmured as he and Lana whisked off to the left.

The only thing keeping Lana from running back into the shining comforts of the never-ending field was the fact that Clark was with her. If she was with anyone else, she would've been long gone. But Clark wasn't anyone else. He promised her a long time ago that he would never intentionally hurt her. And he more than proved the fact that he would do anything to protect her. As long as Clark was here, she knew that following this creature was a good thing. As long as Clark was here, she would be okay.

Just then, when he was about to turn the corner at which the thing had went to, something cold and bony grabbed Clark's arm and yanked him down to the ground. Lana shrieked at the sudden assault and was instantly forced down also.

"You don't have much time. Amon comes in the darkness. He seeks humans. He's been starving for days. You must hide. Darkness comes quickly."

Clark looked up and noticed the beady blue eyes looking at him. They were like two pool-ball-sized orbs rolling around the creatures eye sockets. It's skin was leathery looking and thin, almost dragon-like. It also had a pair of tiny wings on it's back that fluttered angrily, yet didn't seem to help it fly.

"What are you talking about? Who's Amon?" Lana asked, even more confused then before.

"Who are you? And where are we?" Clark added, joining in Lana's puzzlement.

"You ask questions at inappropriate times. Now is the time to…" The creature looked up and his orb-like eyes grew wider as he took in what was standing behind Clark and Lana, "RUUUUUN!"

Both Clark and Lana turned their heads and let their mouths drop in terror. Only a few feet in front of them stood a huge tiger. Its paws were the size of dinner plates and its fangs were ivory white and shined brightly. To add to this hideous animal was a pair mind-eating, blood red eyes.

Lana couldn't keep her eyes off them. They were too entrancing. The more she watched, the more amazing they looked. The irises swirled around like a ring of glittering fire. Little did she know that as she watched, the creature grew closer…and closer.

Suddenly she felt a tug on her hand. Clark had gotten up, beginning to follow the smaller creature's advice - running sounded like a perfect plan to him. He dragged Lana along quickly, praying that the tiger wouldn't force him to reveal his powers to her.

As they ran, they noticed that the originally blue sky was now a shade of weary gray. Black clouds bunched together and thunder rumbled. Soon rain was sprinkling on the two innocent teens, making the ground slippery and hard to walk on.

Lana tightened her grip on Clark, knowing that if she let go, she would be completely lost and at the mercy of the thing chasing them. She could heard it ripping away at trees in it's path as if they were blazes of grass, and pounding the forest ground with it's massive paws.

"AH!" Lana shrieked as she tripped over on of the roots and landed in the muddy surface below.

Clark turned around after he lost contact with her hand. His eyes widened and quickly helped her stand up.

"Hurry," Clark muttered as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up.

"My leg…" Lana moaned. She tried to follow Clark after she stood, but she only ended up falling down again because of her weakened condition. As soon as she hit the ground a second time, terror cut into her soul. A tree just next to her was torn completely out of the ground and loud crackling roar let her know that the cause of the tree's destruction was the giant tiger.

She curled up, tears freely falling from her eyes. She couldn't dodge fate twice. This was surely her time to die…

Suddenly, she heard something smack the tiger hard. It whined like a puppy and trotted away in rage. She could hardly believe her ears.

"Come on, Lana. There's a hole in that tree over there. It'll be safe."

Lana uncoiled out of the tight ball she'd curled herself into and looked up at Clark. His hand was stretched out towards her, though it was reddened and shaking badly. He offered a short smile, letting her know that the tiger was indeed gone.

She took his hand and he led her to the nearest tree in which there had a deep niche carved into it. He let her climb in first and then he joined her.

It was extremely small, but warm and deep enough that the rain couldn't get in. Lana sat on her knees and pushed herself into the very back of the hole, being very careful of her injured leg. Clark squeezed in next to her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm. She buried her face into his chest and shoved her hands into her pockets. He looked down at her and noticed her body was still quivering, so he leaned closer into her, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"I want to go home," she whispered like an upset child at a friend's birthday party.

"Don't worry, Lana. We'll be okay," Clark promised, watching the rain continue to beat down on them.

She nuzzled her face deeper into him, stealing his warmth. With anyone else, she would've never believed that promise, but it was Clark who had said it. And although he could be confusing, she knew he could definitely be trusted in times like these. He was her rock – her protection. And, right now, that's what she needed most.

In Clark's mind, however, he had his doubts.


	5. Cinco

I just counted last night and there are 21 chapters to this story. But a few of them are short. I might combine. I don't know. We'll see what happens.

Thanks again for reviews:o)

* * *

The chirping of a distant bird woke Lana up gradually. She opened her eyes and saw the sleeping face of Clark Kent who was curled up next to her. Her hands, she noticed, had found their way from her pockets to the inside of his jacket.

At first, she enjoyed being this close to him, but the closeness forced her to remember the kiss. She so desperately wanted to know why he'd done it or at least talk to him about it. Yet, what she wanted even more was to know him completely and honestly. How could somebody kiss you, but say they don't have feelings for you? How did he really feel about her?

She knew she would never get the answers. It was impossible to force something out of Clark that he didn't want to share. She sighed and tried to turn away from Clark in the hole of the tree, but a shocking pain jolted through the leg she'd hurt the night before.

She groaned and Clark stirred awake. As soon as he noticed Lana clutching her leg, he became very alert.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Around my ankle. I think I twisted it in the mud trying to get away from…" She swallowed, remembering the tiger and the horrible red eyes, "…whatever that thing was."

"Let me see."

Lana reluctantly pulled her pant leg up to reveal a large purple and blue bruise around her foot. Her face cringed with pain.

Unbeknownst to Lana, Clark x-rayed her ankle. Strangely, though, his x-ray vision seemed blurry and flickered off and on. He tried to intensify it, but this only gave him a headache. And suddenly, the vision flashed off completely on its own like a snuffed-out candle.

What was wrong with him? Last night when he'd hit the tiger, his hand hurt. Not as much as it would a normal man, but it still made it quite numb and red. He suddenly became worried. What if this place blocked his powers?

"Ow…God, I hope it's not broken…" Lana mumbled, still studying her leg.

"I don't think it's broken," Clark stated, trying to remember what little of his mental x-ray had revealed to him.

"How can you tell?" Lana asked, feeling as though the pain was bad enough for it to be broken in ten different places.

"I just…just trust me, okay?" Clark retorted, looking up at her. He only then realized how especially close he was to Lana at the moment. She was practically sitting on him.

Lana glared at him angrily. Once again, he came up with another lie. She knew there was some way he could tell it wasn't broken. Of course he wouldn't be caring enough to trust her with how he knew.

"It's hurts enough for it to be broken."

"Well, I've heard a sprain can be a lot more painful then a break," Clark answered, realizing that Lana was not happy about him keeping to himself. But what was he suppose to say? _"I'm an alien x-ray machine, Lana. That's how I know it's not broken."_

He stood out of the hole and then snatched up a branch. Pressing it next to her injured leg, Clark ripped off a piece of his shirt and tore it into two strips. He tied the strips around Lana's leg and the branch securely.

"That probably won't hold for very long, but it'll be okay for now," Clark admitted, checking to make sure the splint looked as good as possible. After he was satisfied, he stood completely up and held his hands out to her. "Let's go."

"I can't walk."

"I carried you before," Clark explained, trying to hide the fact that he would enjoy doing it again.

Lana's mouth hung opened and then she sighed. "Why do you always do this, Clark?"

"Do what?" he asked with a frown.

"You do all this for me and make sure I'm all right, and then, someday when I want to return the favor, you completely shut me off."

"I do not. You've helped me before. Remember when you drop kicked that guy that was gonna sue my family?" Clark said, hoping to get a smile out of her. It failed.

"Once. And how many times have you helped me?"

There was a short pause.

"So you wanna carry me?"

She rolled over onto her side, sighing loudly at his dry humor. "I'll just wait here. Come back if you find anything."

"I can't do that, Lana. We have to stay together," Clark stated kneeling back down in the grass.

"I can take care of myself, Clark! Believe it or not, I know how to do that," she snapped, suddenly feeling very angry.

Clark stared at her, a little taken back by her shouting. "What exactly are you so mad about? I'm too caring towards you?"

"You're too confusing towards me!" she shouted, only just stopping the random tears that wanted to fall down her face. "First you tell me I'm the one you want, then make out with another girl. Then you tell me, 'No, it's really you i want to be with', yet after we finally get together, you shove me aside for no reason except that you were too scared."

Clark opened his mouth to say something, but Lana continued.

"And THEN, after we BOTH agreed we were just friends, you go and kiss me in front of everyone at a football game! I realize that some of the other guys I've known are a little tough to figure out, but you…you never know what you want..." Her bottom lip began to quiver, so she looked away quickly.

Clark immediately took this chance to speak. His voice was strong and on the verge of being angry. "Lana, I'm sorry I confuse you, but I don't know what else to do. I can't take back what I've done in the past. I realize I did some really stupid things to you, but I all can do is apologize."

"What was that kiss last Friday about anyway?" Lana asked in her fiery, glad that she finally asked a question she'd be burning to say for a week.

"It was a mistake! I…I don't even know how it happened," Clark tried to explain, not even fully understanding what he was saying himself. "I knew that kissing you would mess everything up again. I knew it would hurt you because you don't feel the same about me anymore."

He swallowed and then continued his impromptu speech, still riding on words that he hardly processed in his brain before saying aloud. "But no matter how hard I try to stop myself, Lana, everyday I still think about you when you're not there. I still want to be the one that protects you. I still lo – "

He swallowed. He definitely didn't mean to say that much.

She slowly turned her face back to him. "You still what?"

Clark fidgeted uneasily. She knew what he was going to say. She had to have. Why else would she have asked him to say it again?

Crap. He had officially painted himself into a corner.

"Humans! Oh, how brave you are! Come! Come!"

Clark turned around only to see the little creature with the big eyes jumping and dancing a few feet away.

"I must speak with you! Come!" it squeaked pleasurably.

Clark looked back at Lana, who gave him a look that said, "We'll finish our conversation later." He turned his gaze back to the creature.

"We can't go too far. She's hurt."

The creature's eyes widened and he immediately stopped dancing. "Hurt? No! No! We can't have that!"

It quickly scrabbled over to the tree where Lana and Clark sat and reached out to grab Lana's leg. Clark snatched up its long fingers.

"What're you doing?" Clark asked protectively. Even if Lana didn't like him at the moment, he didn't want this creature hurting her even more.

"Calm down, human. I only mean to make her better." The creature smiled reassuringly and Clark slowly let go of his hand. It then began to inspect her leg. As it ran it's bony fingers down her ankle, it mumbled, "Yes…most interesting…hmmm…"

Clark was becoming very annoyed and was about to tell the little thing off when the creature suddenly exclaimed, "Tári!"

Instantly, Lana's bruise shrunk into her skin until it was completely gone. Both Clark and Lana were dumbfounded. The creature smiled.

"You are truly without the beauty that is magic, aren't you? Poor humans…" It shook it's head and laughed a little. "Unfortunately my spell-casting ability is somewhat limited. Your ankle may still hurt for a while, but the bruise is healed."

"That was amazing," Lana stated pulling off the splint Clark had made and threw it aside.

For some reason, that one action caused Clark's heart to take a punch. He sighed and figured it would be stupid for him to jealous of a small magic-making creature. He decided to start up conversation instead.

"So, who or what are you?" he asked curiously, taking a seat next to the creature.

The creature stood up proud and tall (which wasn't very tall considering he was about a third of Clark's height) and exclaimed, "I'm Viren, an English elf."

"Elf?" Lana repeated in disbelief. _Great_, she thought in her mind, _Now I really am in a Lord of the Rings novel_.

"Yes, I'm one of the descendants of the original elves which is probably why I don't look like most common elves you'd see in those fairy tale books you humans have."

Clark looked at Lana and they exchanged confused looks. Suddenly, Clark's mind began to hurt and he kneaded his forehead his fingers. "Argh…this is too weird…"

"Why is that, human?"

"My name's Clark," he broke in, growing tired being called a human. He nodded over at Lana. "That's Lana."

"Mistress Lana and Master Clark," Viren exclaimed, looking at them as if they were celebrities.

"No, just Lana and Clark," Lana corrected modestly.

Viren nodded and smiled.

"Okay, now that we got names right…" Clark began, still looking very bewildered, "where are we and why are we here?"

"Those are very important questions with very important answers, Master Clark," Viren exclaimed, nodding once again as he wiggled his finger at Clark.

"Do you have the answers?" Lana asked very curiously.

"A few…" Viren backed away and stretched out his arms as wide as they could go. "I do know you are in the Land of Sogni Dromen."

"Sogni Dromen?" Clark repeated, feeling very out of place. Wherever Sogni Dromen was, he was positive it wasn't anywhere near Smallville.

"Yes. It's Idetish for 'Dead Dreams'," the creature explained with a glint in his eye. "This is the place where past dreams live once their maker has woven them."

"You're saying that after people have a dream and wake up, the dream comes here?" Clark summarized, his brows furrowing.

"Exactly."

"That's not really a comforting thought. People have all sorts of crazy dreams." Lana stared at Viren with wonder. "They all come here?"

"Not here specifically. They pass through the Line of the Coming. Well, most of them do…some of them…they like to sneak in. It's usually the awful ones that find a way around the Line…" Viren muttered with shame.

"Wait a second. I'm still trying to process the fact that we're stuck in this La-la Land. How is that even possible? How can this exist?" Clark asked, growing more worried by the minute.

"You will get use to that way of thinking, Master Clark. Sogni Dromen rarely ever makes any kind of sense whatsoever. If it does, it's completely by accident." Viren sat down, his wobbly legs tucked under him. "We have no rules because we have no ruler. Nobody is quite sure where everything is all the time, so it's hard to find one another. Places move from one part of Sogni Dromen to the other in mere seconds. You witnessed that when the my forest appeared behind you yesterday."

Lana was fascinated by everything Viren was saying. She felt like a little kid listening to her mother telling a bedtime story. She looked over at Clark to see his reaction.

He was very pale and sick looking. He obviously didn't feel the same way about Viren. None of this world made sense and when things don't make sense, Clark doesn't like them.

And Clark really did not like Sogni Dromen.

"How do we get out of here?" Clark suddenly asked.

A smile curled onto Viren's lips. "There is only one solitary way a living, breathing human can leave Sogni Dromen."

"And it is…?" Clark wondered waving his hand for Viren to continue.

"Find the king," Viren stated as if it were obvious.

"You just said there was none."

"There isn't. Not really anyway..."

"Then how are we suppose to find him?" Clark asked, his brain hurting.

Viren shrugged. "I warned you: Sogni Dromen rarely ever makes sense."

Clark sighed and looked down the ground. Lana, although she was enjoying Viren, was also feeling frustrated.

Viren noticed this and quickly stood. "Maybe I'd better let you come into my house. I'll explain to you the Old Story."

"I don't want to hear anymore stories or stupid 'ways'. I want to leave," Clark stated, not feeling too well.

"Clark," Lana whined to him, "he wants to help us. We can at least hear what else he has to say."

"Mistress Lana speaks the truth, Master Clark. I swear it," Viren promised with a serious nod.

Clark looked from Lana to Viren and sighed. "Fine. I'll listen. But I still won't believe or trust a word you say."

Viren smiled happily. "Come along! Come along!"

After he pulled himself up, Clark looked over at Lana. It was quite uncomfortable looking at her after their last conversation alone, but he forced himself to do it. He extended his hands slowly. "You heard him."

Lana hesitated before grasping his large hands and standing up with slight difficulty. She tried to walk, but wavered dangerously and Clark quickly scooped her up in his arms again. This time, however, she only laid an arm lightly on his shoulder and didn't look at his face at all. He figured it was because she wasn't as tired as last time, or she wanted to be as far away from him as humanly possible. Maybe it was both.

Viren skipped along in front of them, singing little tunes that neither Clark nor Lana had ever heard of. All were about flowers, trees, and animals. Lana thought the songs were nice, but it only made Clark feel like he was in kindergarten again.

Soon Viren stopped and turned around. "Here she is! Here's my home!"

Clark stopped and looked where Viren's pointy figure was directed. His eyes lead him to a huge mound of mud, sticks, and dirt. It looked like a magnified version of an anthill. A small door in a circle shape was stuck in the front. There were no windows, but a small round chimney poked out of the top.

"Quickly now! Come along!" Viren exclaimed hustling to the door and opening it.

Clark thanked him as he passed the elf into the house and took in the new surroundings.

He was standing in a rounded tunnel that he guessed was a hallway. To the left were a few wooden chairs and to the right was a tiny fireplace with a couple of logs sprinkled with dead ashes. He also noticed a stairway in the back leading down into another part of the house.

"Sit!" Viren said happily as he shut the door. They were thrust into a world of darkness since there were no windows, so Viren quickly added, "Eldalote!"

The fire roared to life, causing Clark to jump a bit. He quickly moved and laid Lana down in the closest chair, afraid that if he held her for much longer he'd drop her. Viren was full of surprises.

"Nice place," Lana commented, feeling as though she must say something to the elf.

"Thank you very much, Mistress Lana. I hope you and Master Clark are comfortable."

"My name's just Clark," Clark corrected again, sitting in the lumpy chair next to Lana.

"Of course, of course," Viren mumbled, waddling over to the last chair in the room. He was the only one of the three that could fit into the small chairs comfortably.

Clark and Lana felt as though they were in house three sizes too small.

"So, you were going to tell us about some story…" Lana began, eager to learn more about Sogni Dromen.

Viren smiled and nodded. "Yes, yes. The Old Story is what I was going to tell you. Old is what it is…so old…my great-great-great grandfather was only a child when it was written."

"What is it?" Clark wondered, frowning.

Viren put his hands together and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and then began the tale. "Long ago, Sogni Dromen had established a weak form of government. The 'semi-ruler' was The Mist. It wasn't exactly a person, nor a plant…nor anything really, so it was never really considered an actual 'ruler'. But it could travel in and out of Sogni Dromen with ease and because of that, it was easy for the inhabitants of Sogni Dromen to communicate with it. You always knew when it passed you. It sent waves of warmth and energy into her body. You instantly felt the feeling of love without knowing why. It was truly a beautiful thing.

"However, The Mist was so loving, it failed to establish any form of army or defense if something went wrong. It didn't feel the need. Back then, the Line of the Coming was able to divide the dreams into Nightmares and Good Dreams. We each lived in our own places, unable to reach each other.

"Let me guess," Clark broke in, uninterested, "Something took over the Good Dreams and killed The Mist."

Viren opened his eyes, shooting Clark an angry look. "No. And you must learn quickly, Master Clark, that it is most impolite to interrupt one while one is speaking. Especially when one is speaking of The Old Story."

Lana also gave Clark a stare and he quickly felt uncomfortable. "Sorry."

Closing his eyes once again, Viren continued. "The Mist can't die. It isn't living to begin with. However, around two hundred years ago, The Mist surprisingly went missing. No one could find it. There was no evidence of any kind that anyone had to do with its disappearance.

"During this time, the government quickly fell and creatures in nightmares could easily find their way through the Line of the Coming and inhabit our world. Some of the most terrible creatures escaped into our boundaries. And eventually, the boundaries were broken. Sogni Dromen was reunited as one country once again – full of love as well as hate.

"Around this time of depression, a prophet named Nathin had a vision. He wrote this vision down and it would forever be known as The Old Story."

"What did it say?" Lana asked with extreme eagerness and curiosity.

Clark rolled his eyes at her reaction to all of this.

"It said the Mist had been shunned away by three of the most evil creatures – Amon the tiger, Haras the cobra, and finally Diaba – the dragon. They ran The Mist off to hiding inside the form of a creature in Sogni Dromen. Until that creature is found, the three animals of destruction will roam Sogni Dromen and cause havoc on everyone.

"Nathin also discovered a prediction which said that a group of humans would find the Mist. And since Sogni Dromen is made up mostly of imaginary creatures, humans are hard to come by. Nathin explained that the humans who would find the Mist would not be natives to Sogni Dromen and they would come here unexpectedly." Viren glared at each of them in turn as he continued. "Nathin's Old Story promised the humans would come in a pair – one girl, one boy. It was then said that if any humans of any sort came to Sogni Dromen, they would be destined to live the rest of their lives here unless they found the Mist."

"You have GOT to be KIDDING me!" Clark broke in loudly. "I'm not gonna hunt all over this stupid place looking for a 'mist'. This is pointless. There has to be another way out."

"There isn't, Master Clark. A few other humans have found themselves trapped here before you. All of them have gone to the ends of this dream world, and none of them have scrambled up enough cleverness to find a way out. In fact, a few have died in their search."

Clark groaned and let his head fall back into the chair. This day couldn't get any worse. Lana was angry with him for reasons that were still somewhat blurry to him, an elf man in a mud hole was telling him he couldn't go home…he desperately wished Candid Camera would jump out from the stairway and end this horrible experience quickly.

Lana felt sorry for Clark. She knew she shouldn't, but she did. He was so confused about everything. He couldn't just go along with this all new world and new way of thinking the way she could. She was ready to go out and hunt for The Mist right now! What an adventure it would be if she really did find it and she got to go back home alive. Paris seemed like a sip of water compared to the tall glass of ice cold lemonade that was Sogni Dromen. So many places to go and learn about. Why couldn't Clark see how amazing an opportunity this was?

"Is Master Clark all right?" Viren wondered, cocking his head to one side when he noticed Clark's angry behavior.

"He's fine. He's just a little overwhelmed is all," Lana explained, knowing Clark was too caught up in his thoughts to think of an answer to Viren's question.

"I suppose this is a weird place to visit if you're use to the reality of your home…" Viren rubbed his gangly fingers along each side of his chin as he thought. Then his face lit up. "I know! I can show you some thing we have that your world has too! It would make you more comfortable, yes?"

Looking back at the elf in a dazed look, Clark shrugged, "Depends on what it is."


	6. Seis

Thanks for the reviews, peeps! Please keep reading and tell your friends! lol

* * *

Ten minutes later, Viren had lead Clark and Lana down the stairs of his home into the basement. Lana's leg was gradually feeling better since Viren had healed it, but she still had to lean on Clark for support. He didn't mind, but he knew Lana was upset about not being able to take care of herself. He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling he felt around Lana and followed Viren obediently.

Soon they were inside a dirty-smelling room with walls and floor made of mud. To the side, there was a large opening that lead out into the massive field Clark and Lana had been in on their first day in Sogni Dromen. Clark didn't understand how this would make him feel more at home until he looked to the other side of the room. There were a couple of wooden stalls holding two of the strongest, most beautiful horses Clark had ever seen.

"This is the stallion. His name is Elsu," Viren announced, standing in front of the first stall. Inside was a horse with a silky coat of black fur. It's mane was fair and straight and hung about his face loosely. His onyx eyes watched Clark and Lana with curiosity.

Viren moved over to the next stall. "And this is the mare - Anstice."

Anstice was even more attractive with fur as white as the clouds hovering in the sky overheard. Furthermore, her eyes were a deep entrancing shade of blue.

"Wow…they're beautiful," Lana commented, her mouth practically dropping in awe.

"Would you like to go for a ride?"

Clark couldn't deny that the horses were amazing creatures but…riding them? The last time he'd ridden a horse was a year ago while dating Lana. He couldn't even remember how to hold the reigns.

"I'd love too!" Lana exclaimed.

"I don't know…"

"Is Master Clark still upset?" Viren asked as he patted Anstice on the nose lightly.

"I…" He swallowed with embarrassment as his eyes shifted from Lana to Viren, "I just sort of forgot…how to ride…"

"Oh, there's no shame in that, Master Clark…no shame at all. You can ride with Mistress Lana while I take Anstice," Viren explained happily. He quickly opened Elsu's stall and guided the stallion to Clark and Lana.

"No, I'll just let Lana ride. I'm kind of tired anyway…" Clark retorted nodding in agreement at his own resolution.

"But why? I'm sure my enchantment of Mistress Lana's ankle is helping considerably, but it won't be fully healed until tomorrow. She surely can't ride with a twisted ankle." Viren opened the other stall and scrambled up onto Anstice's bare back.

"Won't we need saddles or reigns?" Lana asked with uncertainty.

"The ride is much better without them. The horses don't mind at all." Viren lightly kicked Anstice in her flanks. "Let's go!"

"Wait!"

But Viren didn't hear Lana's shout because as soon as he kicked Anstice, both Viren and the mare flew across the fields like a bullet. It had to be five times faster then a regular horse trotting in Smallville.

"We better catch up with him," Lana said, not keeping any eye contact with Clark. She limped up to Elsu and petted him.

"Here," Clark offered, kneeling down next to Elsu's side so that Lana could use his thigh as a stool. She carefully stepped on Clark's leg and then swung onto Elsu's back. The horse sniffed softly.

"You coming, Clark?" she asked, now forcing herself to look at him. "Viren's right about my ankle. It still hurts."

Clark clenched his jaw together and looked down at the ground.

"I suppose I can go alone, though…" Lana guessed, about to kick Elsu into a run.

"Wait," Clark finally stated. He glanced back at Lana. "I don't want to feel like this around you as long as we're here." He took a breath, hoping she wouldn't snap at him for what he was about to say. "Can we just…pretend this morning's conversation never happened?"

She turned towards him in a serious glare. "Why?"

He looked away from her, keeping his focus on Elsu's mane. "Because everything I said to you came out wrong. What I meant to say was that…I want you to be there for me as much as I'm there for you. You're one of my closest friends – and right now pretty much the only friend within a one hundred mile radius – and…I realize that you owe me one in the crisis department. So the next time I need someone to just listen to me or be there for me…I promise I'll go to you first. Okay?"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Clark Kent."

"I'm not," Clark confirmed wholeheartedly, finally making eye contact with her.

Lana finally curled her mouth into a smile. "You better hurry up and get up here or we're leaving you behind. Right, Elsu?"

The horse neighed loudly and Clark laughed.

He then climbed up behind Lana and sat down, feeling very nervous, yet excited at the same time. Lana looked back at him.

"Ready?"

He hesitated, then slowly slipped his hands onto her waist. "No, but go ahead anyway."

She smiled and then turned back to the front. "Let's so, Elsu! Let's find Viren!"

Clark tentatively kicked the stallion in the sides, hoping he didn't regret it.

And suddenly, like a cork off a bottle, Clark, Lana, and Elsu went rocketing across the grass. A violent wind flew in their faces, tugging at Clark and Lana's clothes and hair. Clark gripped Lana's waist as if his life depended on it. Her hair was tickling his face and made him laugh as it's wonderful scent twirled around him.

Blurs of grass and sky blended together around their bodies, painting an unknown picture as they gained more ground. The sun's rays cast a thin dark shadow next to Elsu who seemed as though running this fast was as easy as a walk. His hoofs pounded in the ground to the beat of Clark and Lana's hearts, giving them a burst of excitement and energy that hadn't been released in a long time.

As the stallion gained more speed, Clark unexpectedly felt Lana lean back into him and grab his thighs with her hands.

"Oh my gosh! I feel like I'm gonna fall!" she shrieked. Even though she sounded scared, she continued to laugh ecstatically.

"Well don't grab me! Grab the his mane!" Clark yelled back with an uncontrollable grin. He took Lana's hands from his legs and wrapped them around two large handfuls of Elsu's smooth black hair.

She gripped the mane as Clark said, but she noticed that Clark's hands were still around hers. His head was looking over her left shoulder, eyeing her with enticement. She glanced over at him, now realizing his face was only centimeters from hers. They both smiled at each other, feeling like little kids again, living out their wildest fantasy. They were flying.

It was only now that Clark truly left his old feelings of hate towards Sogni Dromen behind. This rush on the back of Elsu could never be experienced by any other human being anywhere else. No Smallville horse or even an All-American racehorse could run this fast. No other place on earth could gave as green of grass or blue a sky as this place. How blest was he to be here? And not just be here…but be here with Lana.

Both of the teens were so entranced in each others eyes by now that neither realized that Elsu was gradually slowing down his pace until he came to a full stop next to Viren and Anstice.

Viren smiled at Clark and Lana. "Have fun, humans?"

Clark and Lana immediately turned back around and noticed Viren. Their cheeks reddened and Clark quickly slid his hands back to where they were before Elsu had started off.

"Yes. It was amazing," Lana said, realizing that the smile on her face was too big to erase.

She looked down at Elsu and slowly stroked the horse's neck. Elsu turned towards her and neighed softly.

Clark smiled at the connection the stallion seemed to have with Lana, and then looked up in front of them, only now taking in the new scenery.

They were standing at the top of a low hill which dipped down into a small group of thatched-roof houses. Beyond that was a pair of two steep-looking mountains, trapped by a thin ring of fog flowing around them. Other then this, there was nothing but grass and sky.

"Is that a town?" Clark wondered. Lana looked up at the houses and mentally thought the same thing.

"It's most commonly called Durtulugo – the Last Place. At least, that's what everyone that lives there calls it." Viren explained matter-of-factly.

"Why's it called that?" Clark asked.

"Because it's the last above-ground area anyone inhabits before you reach The Mist's castle – any territory beyond it is…" Viren leaned in and whispered, "dangerous."

Clark and Lana exchanged worried looks, but decided not to let Viren's words shake them. Clark turned his head around as he said, "Well, we should probably head ba – "

When he face was completely turned, he stopped his sentence. The forest they'd just galloped out of not moments before had disappeared. In its place was the never-ending field they were all beginning to get annoyed by.

"It's – gone," Lana stated stupidly.

"So it is," Viren retorted, looking behind him also. He smiled. "What a shame. I guess we'll have to ride Anstice and Elsu to The Mist's castle."

"What! Who said we were going there?" Clark asked, looking at Viren suddenly.

"I did, silly human. That's where all your kind go. It isn't a bad place. Just very large…and very lonely."

"I don't understand. Why are we going there? You said something about us finding the Mist, but you never said anything about its castle," Lana explained, feeling just as confused as Clark.

"My dear mistress, it is tradition that any new comers must go to the Mist's castle first. You will stay there for the celebration, and then you will prepare the certain supplies needed and begin the journey," Viren proposed as if it were as simple as riding Anstice or Elsu.

"Celebration? What celebration?" Clark asked.

Viren sighed and shook his head. "We will continue to talk while we ride. We are wasting time." Viren nudged Anstice and the mare broke into an easy trot.

Clark did the same to Elsu, and the horse galloped up to Anstice, walking slowly beside her.

"It is very rare that humans come into this world. When they do, everyone will hear about it. Because they believe that each knew set of humans will give them another new chance of finding The Mist, they hold a glorious celebration at the castle in the human's honor. It's truly beautiful."

"What if the humans are like us – confused and want to go home instead of having a party with a bunch of fake dream creatures?" Clark asked rudely.

"This celebration is meant to honor you! If you did not wish to be honored, then you wish to be Enchanted!" Viren snapped angrily, causing Anstice to stir uncomfortably.

Clark wasn't sure what being 'Enchanted' was all about, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a good thing. He decided to just go along with Viren's odd tales. It was better than arguing.

"Okay, so how long until we reach the castle?" Lana asked curiously.

"About half a day if we don't run into much trouble," Viren explained, looking back at the brightly lit sun as if it were a gigantic grandfather clock.

"Speaking of which," Clark broke in, a slight twinge of worry in his voice, "we aren't going to run into that tiger again, right?"

"Who knows? Amon sleeps when he sleeps…and strikes when he strikes. It's true for the other evil creatures like him also. They have no ruler."

"When I saw him last night, I looked into his eyes…it felt weird…like I was slowly becoming paralyzed…" Lana tried to explain, equally nervous about the thought of seeing the tiger again.

"Yes…his eyes are deadly. They will lead you into his grasp…so slowly…until…"

KA-BOOM!

Lana jumped and Clark wrapped his arms fully around her waist. They joined Viren in looking at the sky, where the sound had come from. In a split second, the cheerful sky had been pulled away and covered up by monstrous black clouds. The thunder, which is what caused the startling noise earlier, continued to rumble threateningly.

"Amon is near. We'd better take shelter in Durtulugo before he comes."

"What?" Lana asked. She'd meant for it to be louder, but it came out as a sort of soft scream.

Clark never remembered a time when he was this scared or worried for Lana. He shuttered at the thought of seeing that tiger almost attack her again. On normal occasions in Smallville, he wouldn't have been so paranoid. But this was a totally different place – one, he still feared, didn't allow him to use much of his powers.

He kicked Elsu gently to quicken their pace.


	7. Siete

thank you thank you thank you! i love you all for reviewing! keep reading and reviewing please!

* * *

Viren and Anstice lead them on the main dirt road of Durtulugo. It really wasn't made up of much - just a few crumbled houses and a stone well located in the middle. It almost gave off the vibe of an old western town. There were no people out in the streets, which didn't surprise Clark or Lana in the slightest – they had to be terrified of Amon.

"Quickly! We will hide in my friend's home," Viren informed trotting to the last thatched-roof house on the right. He slid off Anstice's back and banged on the door.

"Who is this outside my home!" said a muffled voice from behind the door with fright.

"Viren, you're companion! Let me in!"

"Viren!"

The door swung open and a very short, very chubby man revealed himself. He waved a hand towards his home, beckoning them inside. "Come in! Bring the horses, too!"

Clark jumped off and then helped Lana down. They lead Elsu into the small home behind Viren and Anstice, praying that they would all fit inside.

Surprisingly, when they'd all gathered in, the home seemed to be just big enough for everyone. It was a one-room place with a small window stained with dirt. Other than that, there really wasn't much else to say about the place. There was no furniture, no carpet, and no bathroom. Clark hoped they didn't have to stay in here long.

The very chubby man waddled over to the window, wiped a small patch of dust off the glass and peeked through.

"He approaches," the man said in a soft whisper.

Clark curiously walked up behind the man and looked out of the window also. Lana wasn't far behind.

A low, grunting sound began to shake the floors. The pounding of Amon's pawsrattled the walls of the small home. Lana swallowed and looked up at the roof. It didn't look too sturdy. She decided this thought was too pessimistic and she quickly focused back on the window, now beginning to shiver.

One of the tiger's massive and powerful paws came into view with a deafening boom. And slowly, Amon's head followed it. His long, pointy fangs were gleaming and his face was curled into an angry expression full of rage. Clark now realized Amon had to be five times better then a regular tiger. And where a normal tiger's fur would be an orange-y color, Amon's was a deep blood red – almost matching the shade of his hideous eyes.

The tiger walked out into full view of the bystanders in the house and stopped as he scanned the area. When his eyes came towards Clark and the others, Viren urged everyone to duck down. Once she got down, Lana curled into a ball next Clark.

"I keep telling myself Amon is just a dream," Lana whispered to Clark tenderly, "but I'm still scared. That thing is a monster."

Clark didn't know of anything he could say that would comfort her, so he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Oh dear God…" the chubby man said who had only recently stood back up to see what Amon was doing next. "All three of em…"

Clark's eyes widened and he quickly stood back up. Once he saw what the short man had seen, Clark finally admitted to himself that he was truly living a nightmare.

Behind Amon a long, thick black thing was sliding around aimlessly. Clark wasn't sure what it was until it looked his way, flashing two gigantic, glowing eyes into his. He blinked, blinded for a moment, and then looked back at the thing which he realized now was Haras the cobra. He was over one hundred feet long with a width the size of a barrel. His scales were a diamond shape and were a dark jet-black color. He too had ugly fangs and a mean glare that could frighten even the most stubborn of men.

And, of course, last was Diaba. Clark had never seen a real dragon, but he was almost positive that if he'd dreamt one up, it would look exactly like Diaba. The dragon was hovering above his two companions, her bat-like wings flapping wildly. Her talons were like white daggers and her nostrils were smoking lightly. She was a dark blue color, but her eyes were like Amon's – dark red. You could see in her face how much she longed to bring terror to something.

Just then, Amon's head darted in one direction. Haras and Diaba followed it. Amon turned his gaze back to Diaba who looked at Amon for a moment before nodding andlanding on the ground smoothly. The reptile edged towards a home just across the road from where Clark and the others were. Minutes slid by, and Diaba was still walking slowly…ever so slowly.

Amon and Haras came up behind him, silent as the dead of night.

Everything was completely quiet.

FOOSH!

Everybody jumped in astonishment as one deep exhale of Diaba's breathdemolished the house into a giantic flaming ball of fire. Amon jumped straight into it, growling like mad. Haras' tongue dwindled around his mouth, watching intently. Diaba began to help Amon rip the home to shreds.

"What's going on?" Lana asked. She was still sitting on the ground, afraid to look up.

"I'll tell you later," Clark answered back, afraid of how Lana might react to the situation.

After a few minutes, rain began to pour. It gradually began to speed up and soon enough Diaba's fire had burnt out. Amon, Haras, and Diaba now seemed bored with the house and looked around the town again, searching for another place tofeed their wrath.

Just then, to Clark's horror, Amon's attention was turned to the very house Clark and his friends were huddled in.

_No…please no…my weakened powers can't withstand this…_ Horrible visions were flashing in his head now.

"He's looking our way," Viren stated in the most calm tone he could manage.

"Clark," Lana whispered, grabbing his hand. Her face was full of fright.

Looking down on her, Clark's brain went into overdrive. _"I'm not gonna sit here and watch everybody get shredded and burned. Think, Clark…think…what's the matter with you?"_

As Amon began to make his way to the house, rain beading down on him harshly. Diaba and Haras were on either side of the tiger, smiling. It was as if they could sense that the people inside were terrified of them and this made them very excited.

Amon's eyes were throwing Clark off. He couldn't think. All that came to mind was eyes – deep, red eyes.

Lana's grip on his hand tightened.

Amon came closer until he was standing in the same spot that Elsu and Anstice had stood in before entering the house.

The tiger's face moved closer still and by now, the chubby man and Viren had run into hiding. Lana's hand was going numb in Clark's. Amon's eyes were forcing them to stay put.

Amon was now inches from the window, his breath fogging up the dirty glass. A roar rumbled around in his throat. He could tell that he had Lana and Clark right where he wanted them.

_"Move, Clark! MOVE! What's going on!"_ His mind kept yelling at him, but he couldn't listen. It was like for a brief moment he couldn't even understand what his own brain was telling him. He felt like he was stuck in gelatin.

Diaba took her place on the entrance to the house, drawing in a deep breath. In a matter of few seconds the home would match the one across from it almost identically.

A tear slid down Lana's face. Clark couldn't move. She couldn't move. What a horrible way to die – inside an imaginary world where no one could find them.

Then out of no where, an unbelievably bright white light exploded inside the house. Amon, Diaba, and Haras shrieked in fright. Clark fell backwards, knocking the wind out of him. The window shook violently until it shattered into countless numbers of pieces. The light's powerful beams flew everywhere in the small home. Everyone closed their eyes to keep the blinding light out.

A feeling twirled within Clark as the light came over him. He felt...giddy. Happy. He couldn't remember what he was so afraid about. His insides felt warm and fuzzy and he unknowningly found himself smiling. What was wrong with him?...

Soon the light faded slowly and took the happiness aswell as theevil creatures away with it. When the light was completely gone, everything went back to an uncomfortable and uncertain silence. The sky cleared and the rain ceased.

Clarkdropped hissmile andstarted to cough harshly, trying to regain his breath.

Lana looked down on him with concern. "Are you okay, Clark?"

"Yeah...I-I guess I'm okay," he coughed once more, "You?"

"So far, so good," she said as she shrugged. Truthfully, she didn't know how she felt. Her hand was still clasped to Clark's and she slowly let go. She was happy to see that blood was circulating in it again.

"What was that light? It felt so...weird," Clark asked as he pulled himself off the ground.

"I have no idea…" the chubby man trailed off.

"I've seen it happen many times before at my home in the woods," Viren explained, who was so far the most calmed down of any in the hut.

"And just what is it?" Lana wondered curiously.

"I personally believe its part of the Mist…trying to get through to us that it's still here…"Viren stated with widening eyes.

A long silence hovered over everyone.

"Well, what's happened has happened and let's not get so worked up over it. We're all okay aren't we?"Noam said hopefully.

Everyone was indeed okay, but still didn't speak.

Viren coughed . "Um…his is Noam. He's an expert storyteller so you might want to excuse his over-dramatic actions."

The chubby man smiled at the sound of his name. His cheeks were rosy red and his pop-belly stomach caused his back to arch forward. Actually, he bore a frighteningly similar resemblance to Happy of the Seven Dwarfs.

Viren then introduced Clark and Lana (adding in the words 'master' and 'mistress' as always). Noam shook their hands heartily.

"So these are the humans I've been hearing about," he said with satisfaction. "Wow…I must say I am very honored to be in your presence."

"Um…thanks," Clark retorted, slightly confused.

"You are headed to the castle for the celebration?" Noam said as more of a question then a statement.

"You presume correct, Noam," Viren confirmed with pride.

"Well, I'd offer you my home for the night, but as you might've already guessed, it isn't too safe," Noam admitted, looking over at his now broken window.

"Oh, that's perfectly all right, Noam. I'm sure your home is a splendid place to stay just for tonight. Tomorrow and all tomorrows after that will be spent elsewhere."

"And where would that be?" Clark interrupted coldly.

"You will see in due time, Master Clark," Viren explained quietly. "No need to get upset."

"Well, I suppose since it's now safe to go outside again, I shall get us some food, eh?" Noam shouted as he walked out of the door, not waiting for an answer.

"Oh dear. I'd better go out there and make sure he's not fixing something inedible," Viren said aloud to no one in particular. "Dwarfs eat the most peculiar things…"

Only a fewseconds passed before Clark and Lana heard the familiar voices making their way back to the hut.

"Good God, Noam! What in the name of Toadswallow is that hideously disgusting thing!"

"It's a wizel rat! A fried wizel rat! And they're VERY delicious!"

The front door burst open and in came Noam along with the foulest smell Clark and Lana had ever smelt. It was almost as bad as the time Pete had left a carton of milk in his locker at school over the weekend.

No, actually…this smell was worse.

Ten times worse.

"Go ahead and try some, humans!"

As if the smell wasn't enough, Clark found a long twisted stick up under his nose with the body of a fat, burnt rat jabbed on the end. Lana backed away and pulled Clark along with her. She covered her mouth, hoping that she wouldn't throw up.

"Put that foul thing away, Noam! Humans don't eat that kind of scum!" Viren shouted angry as he came through the door, holding a very large leaf in his hands like a tray. The objects resting on it looked like fruits. "Here, humans, try these."

Viren held his offering out to them with a beaming smile.

Clark was a little cautious, but Lana grabbed a one of the fruits right away. It looked like a strawberry, only slightly bigger and had an orange hue to its color. She slowly took a bite.

"Wow! It tastes great!" she exclaimed loudly, shoving the rest of the fruit in her mouth.

After a few minutes, Clark joined Lana in eating the exotic fruit and found it quite refreshing. It was only then when he realized he hadn't eaten anything during his whole stay in Sogni Dromen. Still, even if he wasn't starving from lack of food, the fruits were varied and delicious. He and the others sat down around the small house, letting the horses go outside for some air. For a brief moment, Clark could honestly admit he was perfectly content.

"So, Viren…about where we're staying after tonight…" Clark began after a while, chomping on the end of a strasberry (Clark and Lana took the liberty of naming the fruits by combining the names of the normal fruits they tasted like), "…are you going to conjure up some mansion with those 'magical powers' you have?"

"I only wish I was that powerful, Master Clark," Viren explained apologetically. "I'm only an elf…we don't learn much magic…only hear of it…"

"Then where are we going to stay?" Lana wondered with confusion.

"We're taking thetunnels through Semprob Wereld – an underground world."

"Tunnels? Underground?" Lana repeated, feeling a little sick.

"Yes, Mistress Lana. In fact, my family originated in Semprob Wereld. It's where most creatures hide to seek shelter from Amon and the others."

Never blinking, Lana's eyes stared at the floor.

"Are you feeling all right, Mistress Lana?" Viren asked with a frown.

Realizing her problem, Clark looked up and Viren and answered his question for Lana.

"She's a little claustrophobic."

"Claus-ti-fo-bick?" Noam repeated, twisting his bushy eyebrows into a bewildered look.

"She doesn't like enclosed places."

"Oh, no need to worry. I know a sleeping charm. She can sleep the whole way through – "

"No way!" Clark shouted as Viren stuck his hand out to the Lana and opened his mouth to say the charm.

Viren was taken back. "What is wrong?"

Clark looked from Viren's weird expression to Lana. She also looked confused. Neither one saw anything wrong with Viren's charm.

"I just…I don't want you to put her to sleep like that…it's…" Clark swallowed, not really sure how to express his concern without sounding like on overbearing parent, "…I want to make sure she'll be okay."

Clark's fumbling voice was both over-protective and sweet for Lana. As if he didn't have enough problems worrying about himself in Sogni Dromen, he was also worrying about the well being of her. She found herself smiling at Clark once again.

"Clark, I'll be fine…"

"Mistress Lana speaks the truth." Viren stared at Clark, showing as much honestly in his face as possible.

Feeling as though he was being outnumbered (except for Noam who sat, watching everyone else converse), Clark opened his mouth to say something to argue his opinion, but then noticed Lana's beautiful smile sent directly towards him.

"Do you have to do it right now?"

"I'm not quite sure when the tunnels will appear tomorrow. I'd rather get it over with now so she'll have a goodnight's rest as well as take care of her clausty - erm -fear of tunnelscondition."

He looked at Lana and then gave a short smile.

"Go ahead."

Viren clapped his hands together and rushed over to Lana. He ordered her to lie down, which she did obediently. After a few minutes of Viren muttering his enchanting words, he backed away from Lana slowly. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to feel very calm and relaxed.

Clark looked over at Viren. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, yes. She'll sleep the whole way through."

Nodding, Clark still continued to watch Lana in her sleeping state. Suddenly, an unrealized thought crossed his mind.

"Wait, when does she wake up?"

A smileappeared onViren's face that made Clark feel very strange. "You have no need of knowing that at this time, Master Clark. When she needs to wake up, she will awaken. Put your faith in that."

Clark bit his lip in frustration. He knew arguing with Viren was pointless – the little elf had lips as tight as a padlock and would never let anything he didn't want to say be said. Clark decided it was best to let Viren lead him through this land for a while. After all, who knows what he would accidentally walk into by himself?

He touched strands of Lana's silky smooth hair and sighed. Trusting in an elf was going to prove to be a very difficult task for Clark to agree with, but he knew he could do it for her.


	8. Ocho

This chapter is sort of short, so I might post the next chapter later on tonight. But I'm not positive because I still have to study for a killer health test and finish the 1000 worksheets we got. Fun fun.

* * *

Clark was shaken awake the next day by Viren. It was impossible to tell the exact time, which annoyed Clark a little. Still, he pushed himself to follow the instructions Viren whispered to him over Noam's extravagant snoring in the corner. Within the next ten minutes, Viren, Clark, and Lana were completely cleared out of Noam's home and on the road again.

"Not to sound pessimistic or anything," Clark suddenly stated, watching the sleeping Lana attentively as she road with him on top Elsu, "but I read a book back in the real world that's kind of similar to the situation we're in right now…" He paused before adding, "…and it didn't end too well."

"Really? I'm intrigued," Viren exclaimed happily, glancing over at Clark. "What was this book?"

"It's called _The Time Machine_," Clark explained, looking up at the road curiously. "This guy traveled so far into the future with this time machine that he invented it was almost like he was in a completely different world. He met this girl, Weena, and at one point, he takes her into the forest to try to get his machine back so he can go back to the past. These really evil creatures called warlocks are the ones that stole his machine and they come out in the forest and try to capture the traveler and Weena. Weena faints and the time traveler gets separated from her." Clark looked down at Lana sadly. "Eventually the forest catches fire and the time traveler realizes she was killed because she wasn't awake to run away."

Noticing that Clark was making a very depressing comparison, Viren spoke up quickly. "First of all, as far as I know, we have no warlocks here."

Clark smirked a little, but not completely shaken from his thoughts.

"Master Clark, I assure you, I've been here forever. I've seen many things happen, and I've seen many other things happen instead. And one thing I have concluded is that too many times we try to predict the course of our lives and too many times we are wrong in those ways of thinking." Viren shook his head as he added, "Lana isn't Weena and this isn't the future. So, the way I see it, that book has nothing to do with our current situation and even if it did, we have the ability to change the course of future events. Dwelling on something yet to happen is just as bad as dwelling on things that have already passed. Focus on now, Master Clark. That's all you can do."

After this speech, Clark concluded that he would keep quiet and concentrate on less depressing thoughts for the rest of the ride. He kept close to Lana and rode on the unknown pathway in silence

Riding along the twisting paths of Sogni Dromen was an experience that was both very creepy and fascinating for Clark. They would trot past small farms and ponds and a second after they passed, Clark turned around and they were gone. Occasionally, they would pass another fairy tale creature who would almost always end up being a friend of Viren. Clark met fairies, wizards, gremlins, ogres, trolls, and even a four-headed dog. Each creature he met was so much more amazing then the fairy tale stories he'd read about them. He somehow felt that he was meeting a celebrity.

He also noticed that on each side of the small road they were traveling grew small patches of beautiful wild flowers. The colors were vivid and bright and had a certain glittery aura to them. It wasn't until closer inspection that he realized the glitter was from a herd of fairies that had dubbed the flowers as their home. Each one was only about the size of Clark's ring finger and each bore a set of tiny wings that fluttered silently. And not only were they all extremely stunning, but they all had a refreshing and contagious laugh. Clark couldn't help but giggle at them as he passed…and he couldn't also help but think of Lana's laughter which sounded almost identical to the fairies…

He gazed upon the lumpy hills that lined the road next to the fairy-covered flowers. The lush grass that covered them blew heavily in the wind and created a wave like effect on the hills. It made Clark feel like he was in a huge green-colored ocean.

He wished Lana was still awake to see all of it. He told Viren this, but the elf promised that she would see enough creatures when they arrived at the castle.

For hours it seemed like they trekked the road until Clark noticed a hill to the right that seemed larger and taller then the others. When they got closer, he noticed the hill was carved out on one side and a series of earthen steps lead into the lair of the hill.

"Is this how we get into the tunnels?" Clark wondered, beginning to feel a little claustrophobic himself.

"That it is, Master Clark," Viren confirmed as he slid off Anstice's back. "We'll lead the horses down the stairway."

Viren went first into the muddy entrance and Clark followed with Elsu and Lana. It took some time, but the horses eventually got into the tunnels and Viren and Clark hopped back on them again.

The first thing Clark noticed when he swung himself on to Elsu was the seemly never-ending tunnel he, Lana, Viren, and the horses were now in. The walls were made of dirt like Viren's home, and every few feet a torch poked out from the wall, it's flame burning strongly. As far as Clark could tell, there were no other pathways or doors. It was then that Clark became extremely envious of Lana who was going to miss all of this.

"So you're positive we can reach castle by going through this place?" Clark asked, leaning forward so as to not hit his head on the ceiling.

"I'm completely sure of it, Master Clark. We will arrive before tonight."

Clark looked behind him, watching the light of the entrance slowly diminish.

Noticing Clark's gaze, Viren smiled. "You will see daylight again."

Feeling embarrassed, Clark quickly turned back towards the front. "I-I know…"

"I know what you're thinking," Viren stated matter-of-factly. "You're thinking something will happen in here and you won't be able to get out."

Clark was silent before answering. "It's not exactly out of the realm of possibility."

"Of course not," Viren admitted truthfully. "Nothing is out of the realm of possibility here."

"Then how do you know Amon or the Phantom or one of those other creatures can't come down here? Or an earthquake will rupture the tunnels and make it collapse?"

"My, my…you are very paranoid, aren't you?" Viren said with a bit of a laugh."Master Clark, I grew up in these tunnels. Even if the passageways moved a thousands times I would know where to find my family as well as the entrance."

"Right…" Clark retorted, only half listening. "So, when will we wake Lana up?"

"_We_ won't," Viren corrected with a smile. He noticed Clark's confused look, but continued anyway. "She will be awoken as soon as we reach the other side of the tunnels. We must visit my parents first, however…they live not but a few feet from the exit so it shouldn't be a problem. They'll need a horse for the ride to the castle and I'm offering them Anstice."

Nodding, Clark supposed that was a good enough answer. At least he knew where he was going and why.

But why had Viren said '_we_ won't' wake Lana up? If they didn't, who would?

He looked down at Lana longingly – it was probably the twentieth time today he had looked at her…wishing that things weren't like they were between them. It was like a rubber band relationship: one minute they were angry with each other, the next they were questioning the idea of being broken up. The worst part was that before he even heard of Sogni Dromen, he'd convinced himself he was going to go to Lana and convince her to be with him – maybe even let her in on his secret.

But then this…this crazy universe happened…and it just didn't seem like the best thing to do anymore. He sighed, cursing whoever decided to make life so complicated.

"No…what's happening…mmm…no…"

Astonished, Clark leaned his ear down to Lana, trying to make sure if what he just heard had really come out of her mouth. But all he now heard was exhales and inhales. He looked back up at Viren.

"She just said something," Clark informed quickly.

"Probably just dreaming."

"Do you think whatever she's dreaming will come true here?" wondered Clark curiously.

Viren looked over at Clark lazily. "Oh…maybe…depends on where it goes in the Line of the Coming."

"But it will come here?"

"Into Sogni Dromen, yes. In to this specific part of it, maybe. It just depends on where it wants to go," Viren explained as they continued down the path. "Why? Did it seem important?"

"Mmm…I guess not. Just kind of," Clark searched for the right word, "scary."

"Well, I'm sure it won't find it's way here anytime soon. Now hurry up we're running behind," Viren urged as he kicked Anstice into a quick trot.

Afraid of being left behind, Clark also sped up Elsu's pace and hoped that he and Lana would reach the safety of the castle soon.


	9. Nueve

Sorry I've been kinda late updating the past few days. Aside from homework I'm also trying to make a bunch of origami roses for my mom for Mother's Day and it didn't help that ittook me a whole day just to learn how to do it right. lol

Thanks so SO much for the reviews guys!

* * *

When they finally reached the home of Viren's parents, Clark silently thanked whoever had destined Lana and him to find that elf. Without him, Clark didn't know how he would've ever managed to find his way in Semprob Wereld. Every fork in the path or tunnel they went down looked exactly like the others. For a time, Clark felt as though he wasn't going anywhere - just walking down the same path forever. His only glimmer of comfort was Viren's knowledge of the place.

It seemed like an eternity before they finally came across a tunnel with a round wooden door set between two torches on the right side. After Viren hopped off Anstice, Clark did the same on Elsu and the elf eagerly knocked on the door.

A short, cheerful looking female elf with a striking resemblance to Viren opened the door. She greeted the visitors at first with just a happy grin, but then realized who they were.

"Oh my word!" she exclaimed with glee. She leaned around the door behind her, speaking to someone in the house. "Emmet! They're here!"

After she spoke, she quickly rushed to Viren, hugging him tightly. "Well, it's about time my baby boy came home to his mommy!"

"Mother, please!" Viren protested with embarrassment. He then pointed at his fellow travelers. "These our the humans that have arrived – Master Clark and, the one sleeping on Elsu, Mistress Lana."

"Actually, it's just Clark and Lana," Clark corrected for the millionth time.

"Oh yes! Please, tie the horses onto the torches out there and come in!"

Viren and Clark quickly followed the woman elf's words and secured Anstice and Elsu to the two nearest torches. Clark also carefully slid Lana into his arms and carried her into the home.

The place looked remarkably like Viren's on the inside. Because they were underground, it too did not have windows nor any form of sunlight. Instead, it had a few candles lying around on small wooden stools. A large fire roared and crackled angrily to the side and a few comfy-looking chairs were spread out among the area Clark guessed was a living room.

To the left of him he noticed a small set of kitchen cabinets and an old gas stove which had a long, twisting brass pipe poking out of the back and running up into the mud ceiling. There were also a few wooden doors that dotted the walls, probably leading into other various parts of the underground home.

A few seconds after Clark took in the features of the house, he noticed Viren's mother standing next to the fireplace with an arm wrapped around an older looking male elf. She smiled broadly.

"We greet you very humbly, Clark. My name is Wenda. I'm Viren's mother," the female elf exclaimed cheerfully. She then looked down at the tired elf next to her. "And this is Emmet - Viren's father."

Emmet's facial features were almost the exact opposite of Wenda's. The many wrinkles he earned from old age covered his face and small, weakened arms. Thinning white hair sprouted out of his balding head and his set of wings seemed worn-out and tattered like two pieces of crinkled trace paper.

On the other hand, Wenda looked quite good for her age. Her face wasn't filled with too many wrinkles, and her curly red hair was thick and bushy. Her constant smile made Clark feel very welcome.

"Nice to meet you," Clark stated, putting on a smile of his own.

For a moment, they stood in silence, as if not knowing where to go from the greetings.

"Um…" Clark said to Viren, acknowledging the girl in his arms, "when should we wake Lana?"

"What happened to her?" Emmet shrieked, a sudden look of worry on her face.

"Nothing, father. She was a little hesitant about coming into Semprob Wereld, so I put a sleeping charm on her," Viren explained calmly.

"Sleeping charm! My boy did a sleeping charm on this attractive young maiden?" Emmet asked suddenly in a rough yet squeaky voice. "Who gets to kiss her!"

"Father!" Viren snapped, giving Clark a quick, awkward glance. He obviously didn't want that piece of information to cross Clark's ears.

But Clark had perfect hearing. And he heard Emmet's every word.

"Wha – kiss? What's he talking about, Viren?"

"Nothing! Nothing! J-just lay her down in that room – "

Clark's eyes grew wide when everything started to come together in his head. "That sleeping charm works like a Sleeping Beauty deal, doesn't it? She won't wake up until someone kisses her?"

Sighing, Viren tried to keep is uneasy gaze on the ground.

"And I suppose you were planning on waking her up then, huh?" Clark suggested angrily.

Viren's head shot up, taken back. "No! Of course not!"

"Then who – " Clark's words got caught in his throat halfway through his sentence. He swallowed uncomfortably. "Viren…I-I really don't think I - "

"It's the only sleeping charm I'm familiar with, Master Clark. I sincerely apologize, but I'm not going to kiss her and my father is definitely not going to – "

"Why not!" Emmet squeaked, waddling towards Clark and Lana.

"Emmet!" Wenda protested, grabbing her husband. "Clark will do it, won't you dear?"

He sighed loudly, partly as a release of the anger he felt that Viren hadn't told him the whole story earlier, and partly as a weak attempt to stop the funny, nervous feeling in his stomach.

"Should I wake her now?"

"Of course, Clark. You can lay her down in here," Wenda exclaimed, guiding Clark through the wooden door closest to the fireplace.

He walked into the small room, which held one double bed with a maroon woven cloth draped over it. Wenda lit the two candles set on each side of the bed as Clark laid Lana down gently.

"When did Viren put the charm on her?"

"This morning," Clark answered, feeling a little nervous about what he had to do.

"Then she will probably be a little weak from not being able to move or eat all day. I'll make some dinner for her," Wenda stated in her mother-like tone. "Is there anything you would like, Clark?"

"Huh? Oh, no. No, I'm okay."

She nodded with a smile. "Then I'll leave you two alone."

The wooden door shut behind the elf and Clark shakily looked back at Lana. She lay there, looking exactly like the Sleeping Beauty of Clark's dreams. He licked his lips and walked to her slowly, kneeling next to the bed.

"Hey Lana," Clark stated, not sure if she could hear him or not. "Um…I know you're still kind of bitter about our last kiss…I just want you to know this kiss wasn't my idea either so…so don't try to kill me or anything when you wake up okay?" He smiled and held her hand. The smile soon faded, however, as he continued to speak. "In all honestly though, Lana…I just…well, I want you to know…I still really do love you. And I know that isn't always evident, but…I do. I…I really do."

He suddenly took a deep breath and leaned forward with closed eyes, kissing the girl he loved once more. What he thought was going to be a small, unavailing kiss turned out to practically take his breath away. Lana's wonderful scent enthrawled him, sending a tingling and passionate shiver up his spine. He would've loved to stay this close to her, but he knew he couldn't. Reluctantly, he tilted slowly backwards, hearing a soft smack of his lips leaving hers.

He sat back on his heels and watched her. Within a few seconds after the kiss, Lana's eyes began to open. He tried to take a few breaths, pretending to feel perfectly normal. It was proving to be a harder task then expected.

Looking utterly confused, she scanned the room until she spotted Clark. She smiled comfortably. "Hey…"

"H-hey," Clark retorted, hoping the feeling in the pit of his stomach would go away. "How are you feeling?"

"Relaxed…a little hungry…where are we?"

"We're a short distance away from the exit of these tunnels – Wenda and Emmet's home to be exact. They're Viren's parents. Wenda's fixing you something to eat."

Lana grinned. "So you got the honor of sitting here, watching me until I woke up?"

Smirking sheepishly, Clark retorted, "Yeah…"

Just then, the door opened and Emmet stepped into the room, holding a small tray with a cup of something, which had a few thin tongues of mist floating out of it. He was smiling widely as he made his way to the bed.

"My, my…you are even more pretty with your eyes open, Mistress Lana."

'Mistress Lana…must be a male elf thing…' Clark thought with a smirk.

"Thank you…and you would be Emmet, right?" Lana said, grabbing the bowl of liquid from the elf's tray as she sat up in the bed.

"That I am. Emmet II to be exact. My father was the first." He noticed Lana sniffing the cup with curiosity. "It's a cup of pollo soep. It'll surely get you ready and willing for the rest of the journey you'll be traveling."

He looked over Clark and smiled. "Did you enjoy waking the Mistress up, Master Clark?"

Clark was thrust once again into the uncomfortable spotlight. His gaze darted from Lana's confused eyes to Emmet's intrigued ones. "Y-yeah…it was…I mean…it went okay…"

The elf only answered Clark with a low, enticing giggle and left the room.

Lana watched the odd elf leave and then turned to Clark with confusion. He was now avoiding her gaze completely. "Clark…why do I suddenly get the feeling that you didn't have to just sit here and watch me wake up?"

"Well…" He felt like a little kid fessing up to his mother. "Um…Viren's charm couldn't be broken unless somebody.." – gulp – "…kissed you." Clark winced stupidly, wishing he didn't have to say this.

Lana's eyes widened.

"B-but it wasn't my fault! It was the only sleeping charm Viren knew, a-and it wasn't my idea to put you to sleep in the first place, remember? A-and I didn't even know about the whole kissing thing until a few minutes ago when we arrived at Emmet and Wenda's house and Viren didn't want to kiss you and Emmet – well, he sort of did, but Wenda and Viren wouldn't let him so…that just…left…me."

Lana just sat there, holding her soup bowl, stunned.

"I'm…sorry?" Clark apologized weakly, not sure what else she expected from him.

"Sorry? No. No, don't be sorry…" she finally spoke up, looking down at her dinner. "In fact, I should say thank you."

"So, you're not mad at me?"

She laughed a little. "Why should I be?"

"W-well, I don't know…I just thought you might…because that's the second time I've kissed you and we aren't even together anymore…" He shrugged. "It's just kind of awkward I guess."

"Clark, this place is full of a lot more awkward things then a kiss. I'm almost positive of that." Smiling to herself, Lana blew softly onto her soup to cool it down.

He still loved her – always had, always will. She could tell just by the look on his blushing face. The kiss did mean something to him. It was just incredibly humorous to her how he acted as though his feelings were buried much farther then they would ever be.

Sometimes, she admitted, those feelings she'd had for him a few years back seemed to unknowingly pop out during certain occasions (when he smiled, when he made her laugh, when he walked into a room…). It was hard for her to understand why someone so perfect in every other attractive feature would be so extremely low in the trust and honesty department. Maybe it had something to do with the laws of nature - no one could be perfect.

But if Clark was the closest to it she could find, he certainly was not a bad catch.

Lana ate all of the pollo soep, which tasted strongly of chicken broth with something very original dashed in (she wasn't exactly sure if she was bold enough to ask Viren's family what it had been). After she was finished, Lana felt well fed and ready to continue on to the castle.

Viren and Clark, however, who had spent the whole day traveling tunnels, felt very different. They decided they would spend the night at Wenda and Emmet's, then continue on their way the next day.

The sleeping arrangements in the house were, at first, perfectly fine with Clark. Emmet and Wenda slept in their bedroom, Lana in the same room she'd been placed in earlier, and Viren and Clark were set to slept in the living room. Viren, being a gentlemanly elf, allowed Clark the couch while he took the rug by the fire. When everyone was safely tucked in, the candles spread about the house dimmed slowly and stopped when they were so low, they only seemed like the ghosts of the flames.

Not moments after Clark's mind had settled, he heard Viren. His soft whistling as he slept turned into a fully annoying snore. Clark felt the exact same feeling in his stomach when Ms. Lair would "accidentally" scratch her inch-long nails on the chalkboard at Smallville High.

Clark pressed a pillow to his ears, rolled over on his side, figuring he'd stop eventually. Nothing helped. He never remembered Viren being this loud at Noam's house. Of course, that was probably because Noam himself drowned out Viren as well as every other nocturnal noise in the village.

Clark finally sighed and got up from the small couch. One night of Noam he could stand. Another with a snoring Viren was not going to happen. He picked up Viren, placed him on the couch, and hesitantly made his way to Lana's room, dragging his red wool blanket with him.

He cautiously opened the door about six inches and poked his head through, curious to see if Lana was awake or not.

His heart fluttered more quickly when he saw her ever familiar soft elegant features glowing, even with the small light of the flickering candles around her. She was sleeping calmly.

Smiling, Clark took a breath and squeezed through the six-inch space between the door and the wall, barely making it. When he passed through, he quickly shut the door behind him and began to lay his blanket out on the floor next to Lana's bed.

"Clark…?"

He dropped the blanket and looked up. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing?" she asked, rubbing her eyes as she looked down on him over the bed.

"I couldn't sleep out there. Viren's snoring could've woken up Rip Van Winkle." Clark smiled as her laughter tickled his insides. "I'll just sleep down here if that's okay with you."

"Of course it's not okay," Lana protested, dropping her smile.

Clark looked up at her blankly.

"You'll never get a goodnight's sleep down there." She moved over to one side of the bed and patted the other. "Come up here."

"Okay, either my tired ears are playing tricks on me, or you just told me to sleep with you."

"Oh, come on, Clark. I didn't mean it like that. You think if I wanted to try anything I'd do it in an elf house in a completely different world?"

Clark laughed and gave in, sliding into the bed along side Lana. "Well, it'd definitely be under the Things Lana Would Never Do Unless She Was Under The Influence List in my book."

Lana laughed with Clark for a few moments and then sighed, closing her eyes.

"You know in a way I'm glad Viren snores like a foghorn."

"Why's that?" Clark asked with a grin as he also closed his eyes.

"Because before you came in here I felt so…so lost…so out-of-place. I had this dream while I was under that sleeping spell…and it made me start to doubt if we would even get to the castle…or back to Smallville for that matter."

Clark reflexively grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. Opening his eyes, he looked at her with concern. "Lana, don't ever think like that. We'll get out of here I promise."

"I know, Clark." Her eyes opened and met Clark's beautiful green ones. "I know. And that right there is why I'm glad you're here. I'd never think optimistically like you do. I mean, if that car had only hit me, and you never jumped in the way, I don't…I don't know where I'd be right now…I'd probably be dead…or sitting here alone…feeling so afraid that I'd never see Smallville again."

Rubbing her hand soothingly, Clark looked at her, making sure she knew how much she meant to him.

"But I know since you're here…right here…next to me…I don't have…anything to be…afraid……about……"

Her eyelids drew over her eyes slowly until her drowsiness consumed her and she fell back to sleep.

Clark smiled at her, happy that his presence calmed her, and he placed a single kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Lana."


	10. Diez

thanks guys for the awesome support! muah:o)

* * *

Clark felt cold. He felt extremely cold. A cold he'd never felt before. Looking around himself nervously, he discovered he was alone inside a stone room. It's walls were made of a hard rock that looked impossible to break even with his super strength.

Straight ahead, he saw a small beam of white light. It seemed to call out to him.

Cautiously, Clark looked behind him. There were no windows and no doors. No means of escape anywhere.

He looked back at the light. It began to brighten, begging Clark to come forward. Slowly, he made his way to it. As he did, a small breeze grazed his face and rustled his hair. The closer he got, the more powerful the light and wind until he felt as through he were in a tornado. Squinting his eyes, he strained to look at the light, which was now shining brighter then the sun.

Suddenly, a face appeared out from the center of the light. It was of an old woman. Her body soon came into view and hovered in the light. She was sitting on something, but Clark couldn't tell what it was. She wore many jewels and gems around her neck and on her thin fingers. She smiled at Clark warmly.

"Hello, Clark."

"How do you know my name?" Clark asked with slight fear.

"Oh, I know much more then that, Clark Kent of Smallville." Her smile widened, as if she enjoyed confusing him.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Wakanda. I've come to you in this dream to help you go back home," the woman explained with perfect clarity.

"You mean…back to Smallville?" Clark asked hopefully.

Wakanda nodded, but her happy expression quickly turned into a frown. "But I'm afraid it will not be easy."

"Do you know where the Mist is?" Clark asked, practically shaking in anticipation.

"I do," she confirmed.

Clark smiled happily and opened his mouth to ask where the Mist was, but then Wakanda added solemnly, "But I cannot reveal it."

"Why? Lana is starting to lose hope and the only thing keeping her okay is me. Now I'm starting to doubt things too. If I start to fall…I take Lana down with me…I don't know what'll happen to her…." He looked at the old woman seriously. "Please tell me where it is…"

"The Old Story does not state that I give you the name of the vessel consuming the Mist at this moment. The chosen man and woman must find it themselves." She paused before adding, "But you will not have to look far. The Mist is very close to you now."

"Will we have to search far from the castle?" Clark wondered curiously.

"Perhaps you will have to search, but it won't be long." Wakanda then drew an interested expression on her aged face. "The castle you just spoke of…does it belong to the Mist?"

"Yeah, it does," Clark nodded.

Just then, Clark swore he heard a sound somewhere in the distance. It was like the beating of a drum. He looked around and listened, but could no longer hear it.

"Oh dear…that castle will be a place of great danger for you and Lana." The old woman's face was now filled with terror. Clark looked back at her with worry. "However, it is a danger you will have to endure."

"Danger? What kind of danger?"

And just like that, the noise came back in loud, harsh beats. At first Clark thought it was his heart, but he soon realize it wasn't in tune with it. Something else was pounding…pounding…pounding...

"Plans will not go as they are set. Something terribly unexpected will happen and Lana will be in danger."

"Tell me what happens to her!" Clark pleaded, trying to tune out the awful beating noise. "Tell me! I have to protect her!"

"You can try to save her, but you will receive a most unfortunate and possibly fatal scar if you do." Wakanda now looked past Clark, as if zoning out into space. "It will be a dark day for Sogni Dromen. Many lives will be taken. But, if you know where to look, you will find the one thing that will save you."

Pounding…pounding…pounding. Clark swallowed, trying to mentally drown out the noise.

"Tell me where to look…"

Just then, a series of signs appeared in his mind. They floated there like the flash of a camera. The symbols were a purple-y color...Kryptonian signs…but what did they mean again? He tried to remember, but he couldn't think. The noise was distracting his thoughts.

All of the sudden, everything went black. Wakanda and the temple he had been in were gone and he was now in pitch darkness. The beating slowed down.

Pound…………………pound…………………pound………….

Looking around aimlessly, Clark heard a familiar voice.

"Clark…help me……help me, Clark….."

"Lana?"

"Help…"

"Lana, where are you!" he shouted into the shadows, wishing he could find her.

"_Don't waste your time…alien_."

Clark's terror rose when the Phantom appeared, cowering over the teenager and speaking in it's chilling tone.

"What do you want from me?" he shouted to the Phantom in a shaking voice.

"_What I want is you, Clark…you never belonged in Smallville, you belonged with me…_" it said in it's terrifying tone.

"I do belong in Smallville. You're just a nightmare! I don't belong to a nightmare!"

"_That is where you are wrong, Clark…I'm much more then your nightmare…_" the Phantom corrected coldly. "_You're fooling those elves and stupid little human you're with…Sogni Dromen needs two _humans_ to save it's country…can't you see Clark…you will never be a human…_"

"I'm more human then you or Jor-El or anyone else on that planet who wants to change me from who I am!" Clark yelled angrily.

"_You will always be Kryptonian…your true name will always be Kal-El…_"

"My name is Clark Kent and I'm from Smallville!" Clark screamed, wishing the Phantom would stop taunting him.

"_You killed Jonathan and Martha Kent's baby…_"

"No! I…never…I never meant to…" It was just like all his other dreams. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the Phantom's words.

"Clark, help me! Please!"

"Lana!" Clark shrieked with fright.

"_Lana is dead…you killed her with your lies…your secrets…you're the one that stopped her from going back to Smallville…it's all your fault…you ruined her whole life…_"

Pound……..pound……pound…..

"_First, you kill her parents…_"

Pound….pound…..pound…..

"_Then you kill her…_"

Pound…pound…pound…

"_You are an outsider…a monster…nobody loves you…not Lana…not even Jonathan and Martha…_"

POUND..POUND..POUND..

"_LIAR! ALIEN!_"

POUNDPOUNDPOUND

"_MURDERER!_"

Clark's whole body shook from the beating noise. He squeezed his eyes closed, pressing his palms against his ears. He screamed for the Phantom to stop speaking. Its words were like poison oozing into his mind, tormenting his emotions. He wanted out of this place as quickly as possible, but he was completely immobile and paralyzed with fear.

"Nooo! Lana! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should've told you! I'm sorry we can't go back! It's my fault! I'm sorry!" Clark shouted desperately, feeling his eyes beginning to water behind his closed eyelids.

A whirlwind of dark blue and purple smoke gusted around the darkness, pulling Clark this way and that. The pounding was rattling his eardrums, yet he could still hear Lana's sobbing from a distance…and the Phantom's mechanical laughter cutting through the horror before Clark.

"_You will NEVER get out of Sogni Dromen! You are an ALIEN!_"

"STOP IT!"

POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND!

"CLARK! Clark, please wake up! Wake up, Clark!"

Flashing his eyes wide open, Clark sat up quickly. He was bathed in a cold sweat and breathing in deep, hardbreaths. Shaking, he looked over at Lana who was sitting up next to him in her bed with fear in her eyes. Her worried hands rubbed his forearm affectionately.

"Clark…that snake we saw in the Last Place…he's here in the tunnels," she informed seriously.

Clark took a minute to catch his breath, then spoke. "Sna – you mean Haras?"

Lana nodded quickly. "Viren just came in and told me. He tried to wake you sooner, but you wouldn't budge." She swallowed with tears in her eyes. "You really scared me, Clark."

Concern in his eyes, Clark lifted a hand and caressed her face. "I'm sorry. I just had his weird dream – "

CRASH!

Lana jumped closer to Clark and he hugged her tightly.

"I'll tell you about it later. Come on."


	11. Once

Earlier update partly because I have a bunch of other junk to do and partly because I've been sort of late in updating the past few days cause my internet is going so slow (damn 2000-year-old computer! Grrr)

Thanks so much for the reviews, guys!

* * *

Clark and Lana walked out of the bedroom and met with Viren and his parents. Wenda was clearly scared out of her wits – her red hair was rolled up in curlers and she was biting her nails with panic. Emmet looked just as worried as Clark and Viren had one ear pressed to the front door, listening carefully. 

"What's happening?" Clark asked to no one imparticular.

"He's coming closer," Viren informed as he slowly backed away from the door.

"What? Viren, you told me we'd be safe down here. Haras couldn't get to u," Clark stated angrily.

"I know. This has never happened before. I don't know how he discovered the entrance. The steps conceal themselves every night," Viren explained in a shaky voice. "A friend of my parents who lives back a few ways came to our door. He screamed that Haras had just invaded his home and was moving towards this place. He rushed off out of the tunnels before we could ask him anything else."

Clark swallowed uneasily. "Haras must know we're searching for the Mist…"

Lana held tight to Clark's waist, praying that somehow she could just suddenly go back home. Back to the place where her biggest worry was whether to talk to Clark or not.

CRASH!

The noise was much more loud this time and shook the floor so hard that everyone was knocked off their feet. Small spider-web like cracks appeared on the ceiling and dust from it sprinkled over top of them.

"Viren, the ceiling's going to cave in! We have to get out of here!" Clark shouted over the loud rubble.

"We can't! Not while Haras is coming for us!" Viren shrieked back as he ducked under a nearby chair for safety.

"We're going to die here, Viren. We have to take that risk!" Clark spoke up suddenly.

Emmet and Wenda were curled up under the love seat, exchanging extremely worried looks. Neither one wanted to leave their home for a gigantic snake to destroy.

Viren opened his mouth to object to Clark's previous statement, but then stopped himself. An expression of pure fright appeared on his round face. Putting his fingertips to his mouth, he slowly whispered, "Oh no...Anstice and Elsu…they're still out there…"

"Then we have to guide them out of here before it's too late! We're all going to die, Viren! You can't let this evil thing overpower us!" Clark shouted boldly. With more courage then he'd ever felt before, Clark stood and walked towards the front door.

"Clark, don't!" Lana pleaded from her spot on the floor.

"Master Clark! Stop!"

Viren lunged at the teenager just when Clark had grabbed hold of the doorknob and pulled the door wide open.

The next event seemed to happen in slow motion before Lana's eyes. Viren was clinging to Clark's forearm trying to pull him away from the front door. The opening into the tunnels slowly grew, revealing a patch of endless darkness.

And in the center of the blackness were two corruptive yellow eyes.

A rush of ice cold wind blew into the house and a low hissing sound could be heard…it came from the eyes just beyond the threshold of the door.

Everyone inside was now engulfed with the feeling of utmost terror. Lana swore her heart stopped. The snake was so close, she could heard it breathing…

Exhale…inhale…exhale…inhale…

She remembered learning about snakes in zoology last year at Smallville High. They remained perfectly still and calm for hours on end, watching their prey patiently. It was a entertaining joy to them to keep their victims on edge, not knowing at exactly what time they were going to strike. And then, in a matter of half a second they lunged their great scaly head and snatched the animal up, wiping it out of existence.

Lana knew that's exactly what was happening right now. She'd felt sorry for the rats and rabbits fed live to the snakes in pet shops she'd been in, but now she had no time to feel sorry. Now she was the rabbit. Now was her time to see the up close version of what a victim saw before the snake's jaws ended it's life.

And as if by fate, at that exact same moment, Haras' plunged forward with cunning speed, his deadly fangs aiming straight at Lana.

Then, like a fantastic firework, an explosion of light flooded every inch of the house. The screams and whines of the snake could be heard in the distance. Lana decided to ignore the sounds and let herself bask in the brilliant light. It was so peaceful and serene. It was like the same light she'd been in at Noam's home when all three of the terrorizing creatures had approached them. Lana wondered if this light really was some kind of sign…maybe from the Mist…to stop anything harmful from happening to them…keeping them safe until the time came for their journey to end…

Then, after a few minutes of relaxation, the light faded away until it was completely gone.

Lana realized her eyes were closed and she opened them cautiously.

Viren and Clark had been flattened on the floor and were just beginning to rise. Emmet and Wenda were still wide-eyed under the love seat.

"That light…saved us again, Master Clark," Viren explained, rubbing his eyes as he strained to stand.

"Yeah…weird…" Clark contemplated aloud. He quickly stood up and rushed out into the tunnels. He looked back in the house with glee. "The horses are okay!"

This news eased Emmet and Wenda slightly, but they still did not rise from under the furniture.

"Mother, father! Everything's okay now! We're free to ride off to the castle." Viren noticed his parents were still not entirely okay. He looked up and pointed upwards. "And the ceiling is fixed!"

Sure enough, when everyone looked up to see what Viren was talking about, they noticed the cracks in the dirt disappeared. The ceiling was as smooth and perfect as the day before.

There was a moment of silence before Emmet spoke.

"Well, I'll be a damned warlock if I don't collect my brains and get out of this witch-crafted place as soon as possible. How about you, Wenda?"

Wenda looked at her husband and then at her son.

"Let's go," she finally said, with little emotion.

Clark and Lana had permanent smiles plastered on their faces as they rode Elsu through the end of the tunnels and out into the lush greenery of Sogni Dromen. At last, they were going to reach the castle. They had a very good feeling they would reach the castle all right, and they would soon find out their feeling was very correct.

But, life does have a way of pairing up the goods with the bads…and sadly, the good of reaching the castle came with a terrible, unspeakable bad.

Clark knew it, but tried to reject it. The brilliance of the light a few moments ago could not tear him away from the vivid memories he had of the dream he'd dreamt the night before. It was still shaking in his mind. It wasn't like any other dream he'd had. He could still remember every detail of Wakanda's face…the evil pounding noise that surrounded him…and the childhood haunt, the Phantom, drilling it into his mind once again that The Old Story did not speak of any aliens saving Sogni Dromen.

That's what scared Clark the most. What if they went against The Old Story's prophecy and a human and an alien found the Mist? According to the Phantom, they wouldn't be able to go back home. What if that really was the case? What if, because of him, he and Lana had to remain in Sogni Dromen forever? He'd never get his powers back, Lana would hate him for not telling her he was an alien. And he would forever be haunted by the fact that it was he who ruined Lana's life to the point of no recovery.

"Clark?" Lana asked when she noticed Clark's grip on her had slackened and he looked extremely despondent. "What's the matter?"

He looked down at her, pulled on one of his sweet-yet-very-see-through fake smiles and took a deep breath. "Nothing. I'm just a little shaky still…"

"About the dream you had earlier?"

Clark watched her curiously. He was half-amazed she'd even remembered. He shrugged. "Kind of…"

Lana looked at him carefully, silently urging him to go on.

He smirked, not wanting to worry her, and shook his head. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter."

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"

"It's okay. I'll be fine."

She smiled, trying to muster up enough guts to trust his words. "Okay."

When she turned back around, Clark's smile dropped.

He knew his dream had been horrible.

He knew this was Sogni Dromen.

He knew that his dream was going to come true here.

If his instincts were correct, which he prayed they weren't, the dream was going to come true at the exact place he was traveling to at this moment.

It was like watching a movie in which he knew what was going to happen. There was no way to stop it.

Clark hoped he'd never have to feel this feeling again.


	12. Doce

Thanks for all the awesome reviews, guys! I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was over at my cousin's house more most of the day. So that's why I'm posting this chapter so early. Hope you like it!

* * *

They traveled for hours through thick forests with trees so tall they pierced the clouds above them. The roots drawn out from the dirt ground notified Clark that they were in Viren's forest again. It was a little comforting at first since Viren began to brag that he had always taken good care of it's creatures and everything that lived there lived in peace.

During this journey through the forest, Clark noticed a patch of the same fairy flowers he'd seen before on the road and leaned down, plucking one from the ground. He held it out in front of Lana, smiling as a fairy dressed in sunny yellow, sitting one of the petals, took her small golden wand and waved it, letting a spray of glitter fall over Clark and Lana. The fairy giggled gleefully afterwards.

Looking back at Clark's happy, yet shy grin, Lana watched him for a moment. Nervous about her stare, Clark looked away, blushing spontaneously. She laughed and brought a hand to his cheek, brushing off the glitter and then placing a sweet, soft kiss dangerously close to the corner of his lips. She then turned around and fell back into him, a smile hovering on her face.

Overjoyed, Clark leaned his head into hers and took a deep breathe.

For those next few minutes, the dream completely slipped out of his mind.

It was still as light as afternoon hours later when Clark noticed they had left the forest and were now wandering through a large valley, no different then the one he'd seen when he and Lana first arrived. He asked Viren worriedly if he was sure they weren't going the wrong way, but Viren seemed very confident.

"We are headed in the correct direction, Master Clark. No need to worry."

"I know, it's just…I get this feeling like we're going some place we're not suppose to go…" He didn't say aloud, but added in his mind, 'At least some place where _I'm_ not suppose to go.'

"Oh, you will be very welcome here, Master Clark. And you too, Mistress Lana," Viren confirmed with a smile. Emmet and Wenda, who were sitting behind Viren on the horse, nodded in agreement.

"Everyone will be there," Wenda explained.

"Even the other human who unintentionally found his way here years before," Emmet added.

"I've been wanting to ask about that…" Lana spoke up, concern grazing her voice. "What are they like? Are they happy they're here?"

"At first they were a little depressed and lonely…I suppose one _would_ feel down after one learns they can never go back home," Viren said looking down at Anstice's reigns. "But over time, their feelings changed. They began to understand the beauty that aroused here. All the wonderful places and things living and appearing and happening around them. They soon accepted this as a blessing."

After a short pause, Clark spoke up.

"How many are there and how long have they been here?"

"There has only been two other sets of humans to come here. The first came many many years ago and have passed away since. The other two came at separate times. The first, a girl named Natara, was probably the most different of any that came here. She acted much like Master Clark when she first came: upset and having a strong urge to want to return home."

Clark smirked with slight embarrassment and Lana nudged him playfully.

"She, however, had to give up on finding the Mist after her first encounter with Amon," Wenda broke in sadly.

"Why?" Lana asked curiously.

"Amon gave her a Dodtrice. It's certain type of attack he created. He scratches an enemy across the face or chest, producing four distinct cuts in the victim's skin. Poison from his claws seeps into the victim's blood stream, slowly killing them. No one else really knows what other tortures it puts the victims in because…sadly, no one has ever survived from a Dodtrice."

This news came harshly to Clark and Lana who couldn't find anything to say in response to what Viren had just told them.

The elf realized this and took a breath, continuing. "Time passed and a boy came. He was called Jacob. He seemed more optimistic about this place and the adventure of finding the Mist. After a few days, though, he had a dream in which he was told to stop looking for the Mist until others came to aid him. So, he's been living at the castle ever since."

Clark opened his mouth to ask another question, but was thrown out of his thought by Emmet's next statement.

"There it is! Straight ahead! The castle of the Mist!"

Clark turned his head forward so fast it almost gave him whiplash. Gazing at the sight in front of him, he heard Lana gasp softly and he felt like doing the same.

It was huge. Bigger than three of Smallville High's football fields including the bleachers around them. The walls, which the castle was protected by, were approximately twenty feet tall and were covered in green designs made by the vines of ivy that bound them. The walls were made of a white brick, which had dulled over the years to an off-white cloudy color.

Inside the walls, Clark could see many fat square-shaped buildings of the same type of brick. Long cylinder-like chambers protruded out from the bigger buildings and were topped with cone-shaped roofs made of whitish shingles, curled up slightly at the end like a Chinese pagoda. The tops of each one came to a stiff, sharp point and tiny rectangular slits made in the walls of the chambers served as windows.

The entrance to the castle was also quite large and made of white wood. Standing above it in a small rectangular-shaped hut attached to the castle wall were two soldiers, who watched the new travelers closely.

"It's beautiful," Lana exclaimed with astonishment.

"Looks like an enlarged version of the toy castle set I have at home," Clark informed, also amazed.

"It does look very much like a castle one would find in a human fairy tale story, does it not?" Viren stated with a smile.

Clark and Lana nodded, but didn't take their eyes off the building.

"And that's why it's here. Long ago, this massive castle was just a figment of some one's dream…and now it's here to feel and to touch."

They began to advance closer to the castle, getting more nervous and excited with each step.

The castle didn't have a moat or bridge to cross over, so the travelers moved up close enough to where the two soldiers could see and hear them.

"Good day, up there!" Viren shouted kindly.

"What you do want?" the solider on the left asked in a heavy Irish accent.

The other furrowed his brows into a frown.

"We'd like to enter into the castle."

"Yeah? And who's 'we'?" the soldier snapped crudely.

Viren tried his best to remain polite. "My parents, Emmet and Wenda, myself, Viren, and the two humans who just arrived here not but a few days ago – Master Clark and Mistress Lana."

"Mmm…Mistress, eh?" The soldier poked the other in the ribs and they both chuckled.

"Can you just let us in?" Clark asked, wanting to see the inside of the great castle (not to mention get away from these pigs) as soon as he could.

"'Fraid not, _Master _Clark. We need the password from ya."

"What password?" Emmet shouted angrily. "There's never been a password!"

"It's just been invented. The people inside believe Amon, Haras, and Diaba are gathering up some slaves of some sort and sneakin' em into this here castle."

"What a load of - "

"Emmet! Watch your language!" Wenda scolded, smacking her husband. He squeaked and then became silent.

"He's right, though. They're just making that up so we can't get in," Clark stated with a sigh. He was beginning to get tired of all these obstacles in his way.

"Hey, Tristan. Maybe we can make 'em a deal," one solider said the other.

"What's that?" Tristan asked, a little uncertain of his friend's proposal.

"Yeah…" The solider turned toward Viren and the others. "We'll let you in, if we can see the Mistress!"

Tristan giggled happily. "Yeah! Yeah! Bring her up here!"

"You're disgusting!" Lana shrieked with more anger then Clark had ever heard from her before. "Whoever dreamed you into this place was obviously on something at the time."

The two soldiers stopped their laughing and turned to Lana glaringly. "Fine! Then you're NOT getting into the castle."

"Excuse me, I think you forgot one tiny detail," Emmet spoke up calmly. "We're elves."

Just then, Emmet stuck out the palm of his right hand and shouted, "Vicistern!"

Two thin beams of a bluish light flailed out of his hand and smacked both soldiers square in the mouth. They fell backwards into the hut and out of view.

"Nice shot, father," Viren stated with a smile.

Emmet grinned. "It's a silence charm. They won't be able to say a single thing until next July."

"And judging by the way they fell backwards, they won't be walking around much either," Wenda added, staring at her husband sternly. But she couldn't hold it and her mouth curled into a natural smile.

All were perfectly content as Viren leaped off Anstice and rushed to the entrance to open the doors of the Mist's brilliant home within.


	13. Trece

omg i got so caught up in a movie yesterday that i completely forgot to update this! i'm so sorry guys! hopefully i don't do that again :oP

anyways, thanks for the reviews so far and **Happy Mother's Day**!

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Viren pulled both sturdy wooden doors open all by himself and Clark and Lana watched from Elsu, excitement fluttering within them. The doors inched apart more each second with a definite creak.

Clark's jaw dropped spontaneously.

On the outside, the castle was beautiful, and on the inside…it was magnificent.

They were face to face with a lush and prosperous garden, filled with every kind of exotic plant and flower imaginable (and some even unimaginable). A tiny cobblestone pathway weaved around the many displays of greenery. Bushes trimmed in the shapes of flying horses and dancing fairies were set everywhere and were surrounded by tuffs of roses, tulips and the fairy flowers Clark had discovered earlier.

Other flowers were present also. A few had petals that were larger then Clark's hand and flashed an attractive shade of bright orange. Their stiff green stems stretched higher then Clark himself and dipped down, hanging there as if to welcome Clark and others into the castle.

Japanese-like trees stood a few feet above the travelers and provided a natural roof of pink flowers over them. Their branches made detailed designs of shadow on the multi-colored pebbles of the pathway.

It was truly a jungle of wonderful colors and trees that both Clark and Lana wanted to get completely lost in.

They started to cross into the castle itself and as they did, they faintly heard singing…like a choir of young angels humming in the background, helping them along. A patch of fairies from the nearby flowers rushed up over them and sprinkled their special glitter upon the travelers' heads, giggling as they did so. A soft wind tickled the trees and made it look as though they were dancing to the gentle music of the invisible angels.

No one spoke. It was somehow understandable that no language could be spoken in the Garden. Clearly, the Garden was something to only be felt, smelled, and touched.

Clark sucked in as much of the wonderfully scented garden as he could. He let his eyes close and let the singing carry him away. Everything was utterly peaceful and calm. It was as if he suddenly understood the whole meaning of life. He knew why he was here and who he was. And more importantly, he realized that none of that mattered. Everything came into him so clearly and quietly…this truly had to be the closest to heaven he'd ever be…he promised himself to remember this feeling forever. It was a beautiful, amazing and tremendous feeling…never to be put in words…the only word that could ever come even remotely close…was love. Pure, sincere, honest love.

Soon the horses lead them up to a long wall of deep green ivy, which stretched, from either end of the castle walls. Viren rushed up to it and pulled away a patch of the vines, revealing a large, round, brass knocker. He knocked cautiously.

Clark opened his eyes, preparing himself to move further into this unbelievable place.

Slowly, the many strings of ivy slithered away from the center like a million tiny snakes. They revealed a medium-sized opening, just big enough for the tallest (Clark) to fit through. Tentatively, everyone slid off Anstice and Elsu and began to enter into the heart of the castle.

After Clark and Lana each got off Elsu, they turned to each other and smiled. A rush of something Clark couldn't quite control took over inside when he realized Lana had slipped her warm hand in his, intertwining their fingers affectionately.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then realized he wasn't even sure what to say. At that moment, all he cared about was Lana…and all she cared about was him. He let another one of his Kent grins show, his white teeth shining along with everything else around them.

Viren was the first to walk through, then Clark and Lana, and finally Emmet and Wenda. Everyone was overcome by agitation when they saw the site before them.

They were in a beautifully lit entrance hall, with a set of pearl steps leading them down into the middle of the enormous room. A long balcony stretched out along either side of them and overlooked the center of the room. It was supported by six thick marble pillars which all shined with perfection. The stairway in front of them grew wider as it reached the bottom and was covered with a layer of ruby red velvet.

But by far the most magnificent piece of beauty in the whole room was the chandelier, which hung in the middle of the ceiling. It was made up of at least a trillion tiny crystals and was shaped a like an upside-down teardrop. At the very bottom was a gigantic baby blue jewel, which acted as a prism and cast little rainbows along the pearl-colored walls. The light of the fixture itself didn't seem to be electric nor was it by ignited by fire. It simply seemed as though the crystals themselves naturally gave off a warm, bright light of their own.

"My God…" Clark muttered, dumbfounded.

"This is…incredible…" Lana whispered, her eyes widening as large as they could go.

"And it only gets better," Viren informed happily. "Within a few hours, everyone in Sogni Dromen with be here. You will be treated like gods."

'Wow…gods…' Clark felt twice as better as he felt a few minutes ago outside of the castle. He was definitely going to be able to get use to the place…

"_Accueil, Monsieur Clark et Mademoiselle Lana! Accueil_ to you all!"

Just as Clark and Lana were trying to slowly gather back up their dropped jaws, a small butler in a nicely tailored suit rushed out from one of the doorways on the bottom floor.

By the way he spoke, he was obviously French andkept his dark black hair slicked back with a heavy amount of gel. He had a slight appearance of a goatee and his chin came to a sort of point at the end. Nonetheless, he looked very respectable and obviously a very important person in the castle.

"Good day, Sir Rolf," Viren commented with a slight bow.

Sir Rolf rushed up the carpeted stairs and then stopped in front of the newcomers, bowing also. "'Tis a fine treat to see you again, Viren. Such a polite young elf."

The butler scanned everyone's appearance and stopped when he noticed Viren's parents_. "Oh, comment merveilleux!_ _Monsieur Emmet et Mademoiselle Wenda_!"

The elves all dove into their greetings and comments on how each other had changed over the years. Obviously they had quite a history between them. Clark and Lana waited patiently until they were finished, still gawking at the beauty of the castle.

"And of course I know who _these_ fine young humans are!" Sir Rolf suddenly exclaimed, looking at Clark and Lana. "Ah, yes…there has been a rumor going around of your beauty, Mademoiselle." The butler timidly bowed towards Lana.

"Thank you, Sir Rolf. That's very kind of you," Lana stated, feeling a little uncomfortable. She continued to hold onto Clark's hand.

"And you, Monsieur Clark…why…you look as though you could take on Amon with your bare hands!"

Clark laughed, "That would be something, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, you both truly are what Sogni Dromen has been searching for all these long years…the Old Story will finally be laid to rest…" Sir Rolf looked down in deep thought, and only then noticed the time on his watch. His face snapped back up quickly. "_Oh mon!_ It is really this late? We must get you all fixed up for the ball tonight!"

"Oh, does it really have to be tonight?" Lana asked with uncertainty. "I'm feeling a little tired…"

"Not to worry Mademoiselle…you will feel perfectly fine by tonight." The butler extended his hands and said a loud, "Tonight is a night long past due! Maybe in your real world you were treated as a commoner…but tonight…you shall be the prince and princess of Sogni Dromen!"

He clapped his hands to together and a cluster of other people looking much like Sir Rolf rushed up the stairs. A few lead the horses off down the right-hand side of the castle balcony and the others followed along behind Emmet, Wenda, Viren, Clark, Lana, and Sir Rolf who were walking along the other side of the balcony.

"This should be very interesting," Clark whispered to Lana as they followed behind Sir Rolf.

"I think it'll be enchanting." She looked up at Clark truthfully. "I've always wanted to be a princess."

As they walked along the balcony, the travelers noticed extraordinarily made tapestries lining the wall. Each one bore beautiful colors and shapes that drew Clark and Lana more and more into the magical castle. Everything was so exquisite it was hard to believe it was real. Or…semi-real at least.

After they passed a couple of doors, Sir Rolf finally stopped in front of a pair of gilded double doors.

Clark took a breath, getting ready to me stunned again by more of the luxurious beauty that was Sogni Dromen.

Sir Rolf blasted through the doors, revealing an enormous suite.

It was in a circular shape and held an elegantly comfortable-looking bed with a canopy directly in front of them. To the left was a porch with a few lounge chairs and exotic plants like the ones they'd seen in the Garden earlier. Above was a round skylight, which let a beam of pure sunlight in. Over-stuffed couches and chairs littered the floor.

"This suite is reserved exclusively for Monsieur Clark and Mademoiselle Lana," Sir Rolf explained with pride. "'Tis one of the finest in the whole castle!"

"It's awesome," Clark stated, gawking at the display before him.

"Awesome?" One of the butlers next to the one who just spoke looked at Clark with confusion. He obviously didn't understand much English.

"Great. Nice. Perfect. Thank you for it. Really. Very cool."

"Okay, well, Mademoiselle Aimee should be here soon to take care of the princess and I will personally help our prince prepare for the ball tonight."

And with that, Sir Rolf and all his acquaintances left the room.

Lana turned to Clark.

"You do realize they only gave us one bed," she informed with a smirk.

"I know. I didn't want to complain and make them feel bad. Plus," He rushed up and plopped down on the blankets, spreading his arms out as far as they would go, "it's even more comfortable than it looks."

Smiling, Lana walked up and sat next to him on the bed. She leaned against one of the posts of the transparent canopy above them.

Clark sat up and watched her carefully.

"Ready to go through with this?"

"With what? It's just a little makeover."

"I know..." Clark admitted, feeling a little stupid. "It'll just…it'll be the first time we won't be together since our whole experience here. Be kind of weird going through this crazy palace on my own."

She smiled at how protective Clark was acting. "Clark, we'll be fine. It's not like you're going off to war and I'm joining the Mafia."

Laughing, Clark looked into her eyes, perplexed by their radiance.

"Lana…I hope tonight – this…ball or whatever – I hope it's something we'll never forget."

She smiled sympathetically at him and patted his hand lightly. "I'm sure it will, Clark."

"Excuse me…Lana?"

Clark and Lana looked up at the door to see a young woman standing there, scissors and a mirror in hand.

Lana turned back to Clark. "I guess I better go freshen up for tonight."

"I already know you'll look beautiful," Clark commented dreamily.

Reluctantly, Lana followed the hair-stylist woman out of the room, feeling Clark's stare all the way. Bubbles of joy broiled inside her. Things were finally changing between her and Clark. The uncomfortable moments and regretful feelings were all gone.

She couldn't wait until the ball tonight.

Sir Rolf wasn't kidding when he said Clark and Lana would be treated as royalty. For hours, people surrounded the "prince", helping him choose a suit, fixing his already perfect hair, giving him cologne, and making sure he looked utterly handsome for the ball.

Everything was very surreal to Clark, who'd only worn a tuxedo as nice as the one had on now once before: in his dream wedding with Lana. It seemed like poetic justice. Peculiar questions began to surface in his mind…

What if this accident that landed them in Sogni Dromen wasn't really an accident at all? What if this whole place was created so he could finally reveal to Lana everything about him. Sure, it sounded a little insane, but what wasn't? If she believed in all of Sogni Dromen, why wouldn't she believe in him?

That settled it. Tonight, Clark was going to tell Lana everything. Tonight he was going to tell Lana his secret.


	14. Catorce

thanks a whooole bunch for all the reviews so far!

* * *

It had been hours since he'd seen her last. His stomach was bubbling with anticipation. Even though he had this much time to think about it, Clark still couldn't come up with the right words to tell Lana everything. He stayed locked in the bathroom, looking at his expression in the mirror as he spoke possible lines to use while in "The Big Conversation" with Lana.

"Listen, Lana, I'm gonna tell ya straight out – I'm an alien, sent here to Earth during the meteor shower sixteen years ago."

He shook his head and sighed, thankful Lana hadn't heard that version.

"Lana, I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life…" He stopped and cringed angrily at the reflection in the mirror. "That sounds like I want to marry her…I don't want her to get the wrong impression."

Just as he was about to open his mouth to try his luck on another approach at his current problem, he heard a tap on the bathroom door and a voice shortly followed it.

"Master Clark! Mistress Lana and everyone else are awaiting your presence in the ballroom! Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready, Viren. Be there in a sec."

Clark looked at himself in the mirror one last time before heading out.

"Tally-ho."

The excitement was almost too much for Clark. Even walking through the empty hallway back into the entrance seemed scary. Not only was the mere thought of meeting the entire realm of Sogni Dromen still spinning unsteadily in his mind, he hadn't found the right words to use while talking to Lana. Maybe coming straight out with Pete worked, but Lana was definitely not Pete.

After considering the possible reactions of Lana and finding no comfort in any of them, Clark began to feel light-headed and told himself to stop thinking before he passed out.

"Now, Master Clark, when we reached the top of the stairs, you will be introduced to everyone. You'll walk down the steps and meet Mistress Lana at the bottom. Don't be frightened if people come up to speak to you. They all are so anxious and heard so many wonderful things…" Viren said as they continued down the corridor.

"People as in elves and fairies, right?"

"Those and so much more. There will be a great feast and a toast in your honor and every kind of being in existence will help celebrate with you. It is our hope you will never forget what you see here."

Clark swallowed as they passed the last tapestry on the wall. The stairway would be before him at any moment…

They turned the corner and Clark's jaw fell loose.

Silver and gold streamers hung from the chandelier and flared out in all directions. Even the poles of the balcony and the walls had a soft silvery hue to them (most likely compliments of the fairies).

Looking down, Clark realized that the floor was no longer visible – it was completely covered with creatures and beings of every shape and size. As soon as they saw Clark at the top of the stairway, Viren spoke up in a voice that echoed throughout the room.

"Citizens of Sogni Dromen! I present to you – Prince Clark!"

The entire castle roared in praise, applauding mercilessly. Clark felt a burst of ecstasy and smiled broadly.

"Now descend the steps to Mistress Lana," Viren whispered with a smile to Clark.

Clark searched the crowd eagerly to try to find her. In a matter of seconds, her beauty caught his eye and he almost forgot to breathe.

Her gown was white with a lace-like fabric covering the top, making a v-shape at the hips. The straps were pulled back and tied behind her neck and the bottom of the dress fell about her legs, covering up her toes. She wore a pair of silk gloves and her smooth, brown hair was curled and twisted into a look that a princess in the olden times would have adored. Her make-up was perfect. Her dress was perfect. Her smile was perfect.

But Clark wasn't even thinking about that. His mind was thinking about how much he truly loved her and finally…after so many years of doubt and pain…he would finally get the chance to tell her everything on his mind. Everything that had been eating him inside for the past seventeen years. The fact that she looked more dazzling than a china doll was merely a bonus factor.

He quickly descended the stairs, taking the time to mentally remind himself not to fall or trip in front of everyone.

When he reached her, Lana could hardly comprehend what was happening. Clark was wearing a black tuxedo that looked as though it was tailored just for him. His hair was cut into the style in which his brown locks fell about his face, just above his eyes. And his eyes…Viren must've done a charm to make them sparkle and twinkle their blue radiance more than usual…

"Hey," Clark stated softly to Lana - his princess Lana.

"Hey, Clark," she retorted with her smile still clearly visible.

"You're - "

"I already know I'm beautiful," Lana broke in. "I have a mirror."

Clark smiled at her joke. "No, I wasn't going to say that. Not that I don't think you look incredibly stunning…I just wanted to say you're a princess now. How does it feel?"

She was taken back by his statement, which was very different from what she had thought it would be. Another example of how amazingly unpredictable Clark Kent was.

"Well, I'm not sure…"

Just then, a set of doors opened slowly behind the joyous crowd and everyone began to file in. Music could be heard from inside.

"…I have to have a dance with the prince first."

Clark's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Lana confirmed, as if Clark had said something completely ridiculous, "Aimee told me through those doors is a gigantic ballroom. It looks just like a traditional one. I'll feel just like Cinderella."

"Okay, maybe I would agree to a dance if they were playing something like 'Hey Ya', but…" Clark trailed off as he listened to the slow, classical music floating in the air.

Laughing, Lana grabbed his hand. "It's Laendler – an Austrian folk dance. Haven't you ever seen The Sound of Music?"

"Yeah…"

"It's the dance Captain Van Trap and Fraulein Maria share during the party at the Van Tramp home." She began to weave through the crowd, tugging Clark along.

Nervous, Clark decided to speak up. "Lana…I don't have any idea how to do that dance…"

"I'll show you. Hurry up."

Two minutes in and already Clark felt like he couldn't do this. Not only did he have to worry about something horrible happening to Lana and telling her his secret, he also had to make sure he didn't trip over her while doing an extremely complicated dance.

They passed through the wide open doors and into the ballroom. Lana was right – it looked exactly like the room in which Cinderella met her Prince Charming.

The ceiling rose up high above them like a cathedral and was made of glittering gold. To the right were four more marble pillars and beyond them were a series of tables overflowing with expensive-looking food. Butlers hovered over everything, making sure it was perfectly set and prepared. The wall on the left was nothing but windows, which revealed the bright beautiful, moon and stars in all their glory. Small candles were set in the wall, giving off an elegant evening glow and in the far corner Clark noticed a band of dwarves – including Noam on viola - who provided the music happily.

As they walked through the dancing couples, Clark and Lana were stopped multiple times by all sorts of creatures who thanked them for coming. It got a little repetitive after a while, but they kept a smile and continued on their way.

"This is so weird. I don't even feel like Clark Kent anymore," Clark whispered to Lana as soon as they felt another one of their "adoring fans".

"Is that a good thing or a bad one?" Lana wondered curiously.

"I'm not exactly sure yet…"

Lana quickly turned around and stopped in front of him. She laughed as she looked at his confused expression. "It's time for your first dancing lesson."

"Come on, Lana…there's like a million steps to this dance. I'll never get it," Clark explained pessimistically.

"Don't cancel yourself out just yet." She grabbed his hands, holding one and placing the other on the lower part of her back. His fingers grazed her bare skin and sent unexpected shivers up both of their spines. She quickly looked downwards, trying to focus on the dance. "Okay, just look at the tiles on the floor. It'll help you remember where to move and when."

Clark swallowed, feeling like he did the night she'd kissed him on the cheek before Homecoming. He took one last sheepish glance at her and then looked down obediently.

As expected, Clark stepped on Lana's dress (as well as other women's dresses nearby) during more then a few tries. He ended up blushing so many times his cheeks stayed a natural pink during the rest of the dance until Lana began to tease him about it and the pink gradually changed to a deep cherry red. She laughed at how sweet Clark could be without even meaning to be.

However, after a while, Clark did begin to relax. He even got to the point where he could look up at Lana and still dance correctly without the use of the tiles. He spun her around, awed by how amazing she made him feel right now. They obliviously began to dance closer together as the music continued, and eventually they stopped moving all together, caught in each others' gaze.

'Well, it's now or never I guess…' Clark thought, feeling as though he was about to skydive into a minefield.

"Lana, I need to – "

"There you two are!"

Both Lana and Clark reluctantly left the intense moment to turn and see a tall, jet black-haired guy with deep set eyes and a mysteriously captivating grin.

"Hi, I'm Lana," Lana spoke nicely, holding out her hand. This was obviously another citizen who just _had_ to tell them how grateful they were.

"Of course, Madam." The young man took her hand and pressed his lips upon the silk glove.

"And I'm Clark. Nice to meet you." He shook the boy's hand, trying to ignore the idea of punching him just for kissing Lana like that.

The boy stared at Clark seriously, then pulled off a slight smile. "Yes. And I'm Jake. I believe you may have heard of me. I'm one of the guys who got stuck here before you. Been looking for the Mist for four years now."

"Oh, wow. That must be terrible for you…" Lana said sympathetically.

Clark refrained from rolling his eyes.

"On the contrary, Lana, it's been quite an adventure."

"You don't miss your family or your friends?" Clark asked. 'Maybe he's a hit man who murdered his parents and became a fugitive until he came here…'

"Actually…I really didn't have any friends…and my parents…" Jake looked away, then shook it off with a forced smile, "well…I'm sure they've moved on all right by now…"

'Okay, now he makes me feel bad…' Clark glanced over at Lana and felt even worse when he noticed she looked extremely caring towards Jake. Clark sighed. Even with Jason and Whitney not here he couldn't get a break…

"Anyway, when I found out that you two were here I just knew I had to meet you. I realized that if we didn't get some new hope soon…Sogni Dromen would be lost…" Jake stared imparticular at Lana, looking at her as Clark did not moments before.

"Well, again, it was great meeting you – "

"Do you think maybe…I could have a dance with the princess?" Jake asked, not even looking at Clark as he spoke. "It's been so long since I've danced…I…I think this would be a good time as ever to start again."

Jealously bubbled and boiled through Clark's veins almost to the point where he was mentally sure he was high on red kryptonite. He opened his mouth, but Lana gave him a look that was both sympathetic, yet apologetic. Clark sighed. Well, the guy _had_ been living in a dream world for four years…and it was just one…_tiny_ dance…

"Sure. I'll – uh – I'll be over there…talking to Viren…"

"Thanks, Clark," Jake mumbled as he took Lana's hands.

"Don't run off too far, though," Lana added almost devilishly to Clark.

Clark was taken back by Lana's tone of voice and let another goofy smile form on his face. He then meandered over to the corner, somehow feeling happy al though Lana wasn't with him.

"Hey Viren," Clark stated when he found the elf standing next to the tables of food.

Viren turned around, confused, but then smiled when he recognized the voice.

"Oh, Master Clark!" He whirled around and picked up something, handing it to his friend. "How's the evening been treating you?"

Taking what Viren had given him, Clark realized it was a handful of the fruit he'd had back in Noam's home. He thanked Viren and chucked down the food as he answered the elf's question.

"It's fantastic. Everything's so…" – Clark's eyes absentmindedly turned to look at Lana who snuck him a sweet grin which he returned – "…beautiful…"

"If I may be so bold…Mistress Lana looks simply stunning. Wouldn't you agree?" Viren asked looking up at Clark curiously.

"Yeah…" Suddenly Clark realized he hadn't been looking at anything accept Lana since he ate the fruit. He quickly turned around to Viren and swallowed the last of it. "I mean…you know…of course she's pretty…she's a princess after all…"

Viren smirked and grunted a laugh. "If only you two could see…"

"See what?"

"How you react around one another. It's no surprise that Rolf gave you that suite. You would make the perfect couple."

Clark showed a sour smile and looked down at the ground. "Yeah…well we might look that way…but there's a lot more to it then looks."

"You would do anything for her, no?"

Upon hearing this, Clark looked up at Viren. The memory of his dream came back into his mind…

"_Plans will not go as they are set. Something terribly unexpected will happen and Lana will be in danger…You will try to save her, but you will receive a most unfortunate and possibly fatal scar if you do…"_

Just then, he thought he heard it…the pounding from his dream…

"Master Clark, are you all right?"

"Something's not right…" Clark mumbled, looking around him. Everything looked the same, but it felt different…like the feeling an actor might get the second before the curtains open and the play begins…

pound…pound…

"Viren, I think…everyone needs to leave…now."

"Leave? Whatever for!"

pound…POUND…

Clark slowly turned around to the windows, fear clearly rising in his veins. The deep blue shade of the sky was now pure black and angry gray clouds hovered over head. A rumbling of thunder could be heard.

"They're coming..."


	15. Quince

thank yoou guys!

this chapter was like twice as long, but i cut it in half because...well...it was really really long. and i know a few of you will want to kill me for doing this, so sorry in advance. lol

* * *

Viren's orb-like eyes opened as wide as they possibly could.

From behind them, Clark could hear the butlers at the tables who noticed the sky's sudden change also.

"Why did the guards outside not warn us about this!"

Guilt pulled at both Clark and Viren when they remembered the charm Emmet had sent the guards' way.

"This is my father's fault…" Viren stated aloud, a hand clasped over his mouth weakly.

"No, it's not. It's my fault. I had a dream that this castle was going to bring harm to us. I knew it was going to happen…" Clark looked around with panic. "If I hadn't been so stupid thinking about how to talk to Lana…"

By now, the music had stopped and many couples were either staring at the sky or rushing off to find some place to hide. The ballroom was filled with whispers and murmurs of worry. None of them knew exactly what was happening, but whatever it was, they knew it wasn't good.

Clark looked around, trying to think of what to do. He eventually turned to Viren.

"Get as many people as possible out of here or at least away from the windows."

"We must make sure you and Mistress Lana are safe – "

"Don't worry about me, okay? I'll take care of Lana. Just get everyone away from the – "

And just then, the pounding poured into Clark's mind like hot lava. He squeezed his eyes shut at the pain it was causing him.

POUND POUND POUND POUND!

SWOOSH!

At this sound, Clark whirled back to look at the windows, which only bore the silhouette of a great black dragon for a few brief moments before the reptile smashed through them effortlessly. Shards of glass shot in every direction. The whole crowd fell to their knees and covered themselves as well as their spouses.

Clark ducked, but still his clothing and skin got caught in the glass storm's evil path. The pain was new to him, and he hoped Lana hadn't gotten it as bad as he did.

The dragon, Diaba, then landed on the hard tiles with a crunch and let out a terrific screech. It's eyes glared around the room hungrily. It seemed as through breaking through one hundred or more panes of glass was a daily routine. The lizard had no injuries on its body whatsoever.

Clark cautiously moved this arms which had been covering his face. He looked up at the beast, not even believing what was actually happening.

From the dragon's arched back Haras emerged, hissing wildly as he slipped down onto the floor. He darted in one direction, searching for prey as Diaba went another.

And from behind them, Clark saw the two beings he'd wish he'd never have to see again: Amon and the Phantom.

'Oh no…please no…there has to be a way out of this…why can't I see it? Why can't I see it!' Clark scanned everywhere, searching for Lana. He had to at least keep her from getting hurt. His mind was buzzing with possible outcomes of his current situation if he didn't find Lana and quick. He cursed whoever stopped his powers from working, knowing full well that if he had them, this situation would feel just like another Freak of the Week experience.

But he didn't have them and instead he felt weak, useless and incredibly stupid.

"_So we meet again, Kal-el…"_ the Phantom said teasingly as it slowly hovered towards Clark.

'Where is she? Where is she! God, why can't think straight!' Sweat began to drip from Clark's forehead. He felt like he was slowly being suffocated. He couldn't hear anything except for the dreaded pounding and the sound of the Phantom's hideous voice. It was one hundred times more terrifying than a dream. This time he couldn't wake up. He had to face this beast that he himself created…with no powers to help.

"Kal-El…" 

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Clark covered his ears, still trying to see Lana. It was no use. All he could see were screaming victims…victims of Death itself…each one being taken away horribly by Diaba, Haras, and Amon…

"_I told you…you're wasting your time trying to fight this…"_ As the Phantom advanced, the familiar gusts of wind began grasped at Clark's arms and legs violently. He eventually slipped and fell backwards on the floor, knocking the wind out of himself.

"Oww.." He coughed and grimaced in pain, but continued to use he elbows to drag himself as far away from the Phantom as he could get.

The Phantom began to laugh. It was a harsh, evil laugh that made Clark's blood run cold.

"_You are so terribly pitiful, Kal-El…I told you so many times…you don't belong here, you belong with me…and you can either obey me or die right now…a powerless fool…" _

"I'd rather die than become something like you."

Lightning-like streaming of light shot out of the Phantom's fingertips, piercing Clark in the chest.

It felt like the light was eating away at his veins and tearing off his skin. He opened his mouth to scream, but this only made the Phantom hit him again. This time the sparks veered into his throat. The feeling was even worse, like a nest of hornets were drilling away at his lungs and mouth.

After a few minutes, the Phantom stopped and began to laugh again. _"You're so stupid, Kal-El…Why didn't you obey me when you had the chance! But no matter now…now I will end this…and you will finally know how it feels to die…nice and slow…with no one to mourn your alien soul…" _

Clark's breath weezed in and out and his elbows which were holding him up still were now shaking rapidly. He wasn't so sure if his weakened body could take another hit from the Phantom.

Clenching his jaw, Clark begged and pleaded to himself to remember more of what Wakanda had told him…it was the only thing he could think of that would save him now…he closed his eyes…

The Kryptonian symbols he'd seen before flashed across his vision again.

'They mean…under - right - hand? But what's that have to do with me? I don't have anything under my hand except…wait a minute…'

He quickly opened his eyes, looking down at the bloodstained tile on which his hand rested directly in the center.

"Under right hand…" Clark whispered the translation to himself with pride.

The Phantom laughed harder his arms now stretched out, ready to attack once again. He had yet to notice Clark's change in expression.

"_Tonight, dear Kal-El, shall be the last night you'll ever remember you're pitiful, wasted life…or you're equally useless little…'princess'…"_

At that last unallowable statement, Clark mercilessly balled his left hand into a great fist and jammed it into the tile under his right hand. The tile crumbled and gave way into a small chamber underneath. Clark eagerly stuck his hand inside and felt something metal and cold.

Impatiently he lifted his hand out of the hole. The first thing he noticed was that his hand was bleeding badly from the harsh contact it had with the floor. But the next thing he saw, however, was the lengthy and deadly looking sword he clasped now in his palm.

By now, the Phantom had looked down and noticed what Clark had discovered. It's howling laughter stopped almost instantly.

"_What – where did you get that?"_ it asked in a scared and less intimidating tone than before.

Clark pulled a smug grin on his face, almost to the point where he looked possessed.

"I guess you'll never know."

"_You can't kill me…"_ the Phantom stated, though sounding somewhat unsure of himself. _"You would never intentionally kill another…"_

Clark rose from his place on the floor, blood dripping from the side of his mouth. He moved the sword over to his right hand as he spoke.

"You're right. I wouldn't." He let a brief pause occur before adding, "But you're nothing but a evil, demented piece of fantasy that's been haunting me since I was born. And now it's your time to leave."

With more strength even the regular super-powered teen had had, Clark thrust the sword forward. It jabbed through the Phantom's dark, eerie garments and the ghost shrieked loudly. The wind that had been swirling around Clark was now surrounding it, whipping and yanking at Clark's sword until finally a blast of vapor exploded and the spot in which the Phantom had occupied was now gone.

For a few moments, Clark stood there, trying to comprehend what he'd just done. The thing that had hurt and scared him his whole life was gone forever. He took a few gulps of air and then looked down at his newfound weapon.

The handle was made purely of gold and there were Kryptonian symbols on it. On one side it read: 'truth' and the other: 'justice'. He moved it around in the air. Contrary to all the metal it was made out of, the sword barely weighed anything at all.

"Oh my God! Jake!"

Clark's smile dropped at the screaming he'd just heard. He looked up at where the shouting had happened and his mouth practically fell at the sight.

Jake was lying on the ground unconscious, blood oozing out of two distinct holes pierced in his neck. Lana was kneeled beside him, slapping him on the cheeks softly in a weak attempt to wake him of his stupor.

"Haras…" Clark whispered under his breath.

Quickly he jogged toward them. Lana looked up as he came towards her. When he reached her, he kneeled down and they embraced for a moment.

"That snake jumped out and bit him. I don't know what to do. What if he dies, Clark? What if we all die?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks and Clark brushed them away furiously.

"We aren't going to die, Lana. I promise you."

They looked at he each other for a moment. Clark smiled and then noticed something moving behind her.

"Lana, look out!"

He pushed her out of the way to reveal a lunging Amon aimed straight towards where Lana had originally been. It's teeth were sharp and clearly visible and it's claws are dripping with fresh blood.

Clark gripped the sword in his hand, ready to whack the living daylights out of the second most terrifying thing he had ever faced. He felt perfectly calm and ready…ready to actually kill this thing…

Pound…POUND..POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND!

Amon's eyes swirled and glowed like two hot coals. They seemed to go on endlessly. Clark tried to throw himself off their eerie attraction, but he was slowly being pulled towards them...he couldn't even remember where or who he was…

POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND!

Amon let out one more hideous roar before he collided into Clark.

"CLAAAARK!" Lana shrieked, her hands covered her mouth as she wept endlessly.

The fallen hero landed backwards onto the ground, his once blue eyes now pitch black and glazed over. He looked down at his chest which now felt like a thousand knives tearing at his flesh – there were four deep cuts sliced diagonally through it, created by Amon's claws. Red blood poured from his chest, seeping onto his bright white shirt.

Lana looked on in horror, not sure of what to do. Countless people were injured or dead around her. Jake was gone. Even Clark was gone. There was no one left to protect her…

And Amon was coming back for seconds.


	16. Dieciseis

thanks for the reviews and sorry if any of you died before you were able to read this. :oP

* * *

The striped creature turned around and looked at Lana with it's entrancing eyes, performing their hypnotic dancing once more.

'No…no…I'm not…going to fall…Clark said we're not gonna die…' With this, she looked over at the teen who was still lying there, losing a lot of blood very quickly. Her eyes then traveled down to his wounded and scraped up hand, which still held the sword.

'We are not going to die.'

As soon as Lana made a move towards the sword, Amon kicked into gear. There was only about ten feet in between him and Lana. She didn't have a chance.

But Lana didn't care as she reached Clark and pulled the weapon from his hand. She gripped it with both hands and with a sudden burst of energy she swung wildly in the direction in which Amon was running.

A wailing of the injured tiger filled the ballroom.

Lana closed her eyes, afraid to see the gory scene she'd just created. She knew she'd hit it – she felt the sword slash into something hard, yet she didn't hear anything else after the wail. There was no thud of the creature falling unconscious to the ground.

She cautiously opened her squinting eyes to see what had happened. Her nervous state caused her to take in large, deep breaths as she did so.

And there Amon stood before her, his face not but a few inches from hers. He looked extremely enraged. At first, she was confused that he had absolutely no wound on him, but then she noticed his cheek. A large red cut was engraved in it.

She was about to smile triumphantly, but then she noticed something else…the longer she watched the wound, the darker the red became and the less obvious the cut appeared to look.

Within a few moments, Amon's cut was completely healed.

"Oh my God…" Lana whispered, dropping the useless sword with a clank.

The tiger's anger grew even more. And as it did, Amon's right paw rose up in the air, getting ready to strike Lana down. The deep growling inside him almost sounded like an evil laugh.

Lana was shaking with every fiber of her being. Tears fell even more rapidly. She closed her eyes, praying that she wouldn't leave the world in pain or suffering. Just one quick hit would be perfect for her.

Just then, when all hope had officially been drained out of her, Lana heard the neighing of a horse. She thought she was hallucinating until she heard the clopping of the horse's hooves on the tile as it grew closer.

Lana quickly turned to see Elsu galloping freely into the ballroom.

'What is he doing out! He doesn't have chance against this monster,' Lana thought to herself, terrified.

Amon looked equally confused as he watched the pitch-black stallion stomp through the place until it came to a halt right in front of the trembling Lana.

"Elsu…" Lana whispered warningly, hoping the horse didn't regret what he'd just done.

Amon growled once more menacingly. He'd already taken the lives of many others tonight. What was one more?

Lana gasped in fright as the tigers paw swooped down with unbelievable agility.

But as soon as it got within a few inches of the horse's mane, the paw froze. Amon stared at his own arm in confusion. He tried pulling it back in forth. It wouldn't budge. His paw was stuck in mid-air.

Lana watched wide-eyed for a moment until he heard a groaning voice from behind her.

"Lana…"

She turned to she Clark who strained to look at what was going on through his pain.

"Clark!" Rushing over to him, Lana touched his face, pushing stray locks of hair from his eyes. "It think it'll be okay. Elsu, he…"

Lana looked back over at horse. His eyes remained focused on Amon tauntingly, yet seriously. Suddenly Lana felt a harsh tension in the air. The ground seemed to shake and grumble under them.

"What's…ha…ppening…" Clark asked through his wisping, sore throat.

Lana looked around herself, wondering how to answer him. After all, she wanted to know the same thing.

The tiger looked at the grounded, dumbfounded. Quickly he tried to once again to pull his paw free but it was no use. No matter what the great beast tried, his paw didn't budge.

And while Amon struggled, Elsu lowered his neck slowly. A small glow of light shown onto the crown of his head.

At first, Lana had thought her eyes had been playing tricks on her…and then…she noticed the light growing rapidly and taking the form of a large sphere. It hovered over the horse, swirling and swelling fleetly.

"What the hell…?" Lana whispered, mostly to herself.

Clark forced his eyes to stay open just a few seconds more to see what was going on.

The sphere reached the size of about six basketballs, and Amon finally decided to give up on his stuck paw and focus more unusual things. He growled and snarled at the horse, saliva dripping from his hungry fangs. His massive snake-like tail whipped and snapped, silently calling Diaba and Haras who stepped up from behind mysteriously, almost as though they had been lurking in the shadows all along.

Elsu didn't seem overtaken by this action in the slightest. He stood in front of the terrifying creatures, glaring at him blankly as the glowing above his head got so big, the floors began to shake more heavily.

Diaba and Haras turned to each other, acting a little hesitant to do anything. It seemed like they were actually afraid to go after the horse.

Amon looked behind him, seeing there worried expressions and growled in fury. He sounded like he was a sergeant, urging his men to go into battle. Diaba and Haras listened reluctantly, but watching the strange glowing horse the whole time.

The tiger snarled loudly at his cohorts until he realized that the longer they looked over his shoulder at the horse, the more confused they seemed to be at what they saw. Curious, Amon turned his head to look back at Elsu.

The horse had backed up at least thirty feet, taking the sphere on his head with him.

After a few silent moments, Amon's stuck paw lowered to the ground. He immediately flexed it and pressed his dangerous claws out to match the other paw. His happy, blood-thirsting face looked from his paws up to the horse. He grinned devilishly and two pointy fangs poked out from it. Victory was so close to him he could taste it.

Diaba and Haras also thought like Amon and the worries they had before were completely dissolved. They glared at Elsu menacingly, mentally pumping themselves up for a torturing and exciting fight.

The three began to walk casually together, making their way to the awaiting Elsu. They no longer even remembered anyone else was there. All attention was focused this little victim who thought he was so much better than them.

Soon the walk turned into a trot, then into a jog, and then Amon let out a pierced growl that broke them into an all-out race to see who would be the first to reach their destination. Diaba jumped and spread his massive wings, allowing them to glide him towards Elsu.

But much to their surprise, Elsu began to run at them also. His speed was amazing and his hooves clanked and chipped at the tiles below. The sphere looked like a giant balloon, ready to pop as it hovered over him.

Lana looked on, her mouth covered by her sweating palms, her eyes filled with tears. She had no idea of what was about to happen, but somehow she knew it would change Sogni Dromen forever. For better or for worse…there was no way of knowing.

Amon took deep breaths, ready to attack the little pip-squeak of a horse that dared to get in his way. So what if he has a glowing ball on his head? It didn't make any difference to him. Dinner was dinner.

He flashed his red, swirling eyes at the horse menacingly, beginning to stun his prey as he always did.

And that's when Elsu came to an abrupt stop.

But the sphere continued to flying towards the three creatures.

It soared over the floor, getting brighter with each inch it took.

Suddenly realizing what the sphere was going to bring, Diaba, Haras, and Amon tried to stop their charge at the horse, but something caused them to continue to slide towards the ball like a giant vacuum. They continued towards the flaming glow of the sphere at a rocketing pace. Their eyes filled with terror as they rapidly advanced on their inevitable fate.

The place where they finally collided was directly in front of Clark and Lana. A blast louder than lightning smashed throughout the castle. The entire hall was radiating from the sphere's great light that had broken open during the impact. Wailing of Haras, Diaba, and Amon could be heard vaguely behind the static-y explosive noises that the sphere was giving off.

Lana closed her eyes, then leaned down and covered up Clark protectively. Her torn and dirty ball gown flailed around her as though she was in a tornado. The wind hit her so hard for so long, her whole body began to go numb. She couldn't feel herself holding on to Clark anymore. She felt lost in a huge beam of unending light. She was afraid she'd never see Clark or anyone else ever again.

Then something changed.

The blinding light diminished somewhat and a warmth enthralled her, embracing her gently. She smiled…but…why was she smiling? She didn't even know. For some reason, everything suddenly felt calm and relaxing…like the whole world made sense and nothing would ever hurt her again…

As she felt this, the glowing and noises dying away until it was undeniably dark and silent.

Cautiously, Lana opened her eyes. She was surprised to she Clark Kent's bruised and bleeding, yet still conscious face staring at her.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down sharply as he tried to take a breath. "Did you…see that?"

Lana looked up to where the collision had happened. The only creature still there was Elsu. He stood proudly and nodded towards her as if telling her it was true – Diaba, Haras, and Amon were gone.

She laughed and sat back on her heels. Tears that had originally been made from fright now streaming down her face in pure joy.

"Yes, Clark. I saw it and so did you! We saw the Mist! We found it! We're gonna be able to go home!"

Clark smiled for a few moments, then stopped. His chest contracted and his mouth opened slightly. He looked as though he was going to hurl, but nothing was coming out.

"Clark?" Lana noticed the deep cuts still present on his chest. They looked worse than before. "Clark, don't struggle. I'll find someone to help you. Hang on, Clark, please. I need you…"

As much as Clark tried to follow what Lana had just said, his head began to feel as though it where spinning around on a turn-table and Lana's words blended together so that he couldn't understand them. He took in one last weak breath and then slipped into the blackness of his mind.


	17. Diecisiete

thanks for the coolest reviews, guys:o)

* * *

Clark woke up coughing almost to the point where he thought he was going to choke to death. His cheeks burned and his sides hurt badly when the coughing finally did cease, and he pushed himself up into a sitting position very slowly, his stomach muscles aching from their strenuous work. Taking a few breaths, he opened his eyes to see where he was.

He was back in the bed of the suite he and Lana had been given before the ball. Looking down, he noticed he still wore his tuxedo pants, but the bloodstained shirt and jacket were no where to be seen.

Memories of the ball played back in his head like a broken record. He could only recall the parts of it that were the most terrifying and this began to give him a minor headache. He decided it would be best to just ignore that part of his life for now.

Still, it was hard to stop himself from staring at his horribly injured chest, which bore four painful looking cuts, but had obviously been treated with something because they were almost all the way healed. He touched one and groaned loudly in pain. Ok, maybe not as healed as he thought.

"Clark! Was that you?"

Clark quickly looked up surprised as he saw Lana rush out of the bathroom, carrying a wet piece of cloth. Her eyes looked a little red and puffy as though she'd been crying earlier. He hoped it wasn't because of him.

"Clark!"

She reached him and gave him an awkward-looking hug, trying not to touch his sensitive scars.

Her wonderful scent filled his insides and gave him a sense of happiness he hadn't felt in a long time. "Lana…wha-what…how…"

She smiled sweetly.

"Everything's okay, Clark. They're gone."

Clark tried to think of what she could possibly be referring to, but only gave himself an even bigger headache then before. He put his palm to his head.

"Who's gone?"

Lana's expression grew more concerned as she pressed the wet cloth to his aching forehead. "Please tell me you remember Amon and all them."

"Yeah, of course I – " He suddenly stopped, staring at her unbelievably. "They're gone?"

Lana smiled and nodded.

"Forever!" He moved abruptly in excitement, accidentally bumping his chest. He grimaced in pain. "Oh…ow…"

"You'd better lay back down. Aimee said it'll take a few more days before those cuts completely heal. You're so lucky that thing didn't cut you as deep as Aimee said he usually does…you're the first one she's treated that's actually had a great chance of healing." Clark reluctantly lay back down, taking the cloth Lana offered him with a sweet thanks. "And, just to let you know, your left hand is completely healed already. Aimee must have some pretty powerful stuff because it really looked horrible before you were brought to her just last night."

He nodded and then sighed.

"So…if my memory's right…Elsu saved everyone," he stated, closing his eyes. "Wow…would you have ever guessed that the horse we were riding on this whole time was possessing the Mist?"

"Yeah…it's weird…"

Lana's tone seemed somewhat unsure.

Clark opened his eyes, looking at her strangely. "What?"

She sighed, pulling her puzzled look into a smile. "Nothing. It's nothing. I just…well, Viren said that after the two found the Mist, they'd be able to go back home…" She looked around the room, slightly saddened, "…and we're not home."

Clark just now realized this also. He bit his bottom lip, feeling somewhat guilty. Now he felt more then ever that because of him they weren't going to go back. Lana was surely going to be furious when she found out…he'd have to tell her eventually…there was no other explanation. Clark Kent screwed up again and this time there was no backing out.

'She's gonna hate me forever…but I have to tell her…now or never, Clark. Here we go.' He watched Lana go into another room and coming back with a glass of water, a smile still grazing her face. 'Yeah, she's happy now…after I tell her about me, she'll probably throw this glass of water right into my face…'

"Um…Lana…" - 'Calm…calm and slow is very good…' - "y-you know…I'm sure there's just another little thing we have to do before we go back. Maybe chant a few words or something. I wouldn't worry about it." He quickly took a sip of the drink, then set on the nightstand along with the cloth, avoiding her eyes.

'I hate myself…I hate myself…I HATE MYSELF…' Clark repeated in his mind as he lied directly to Lana's face. He mentally slammed his head against a locker and cursed himself for being such a wuss.

Lana, however, did not see any signs that Clark was untruthful and watched him happily. "You're probably right. You always know how to make me feel better…even during a time like this."

Tentatively, Clark returned the smile, hoping his mask of lies would hold out long enough for him find the words to tell her the truth…

"Mistress Lana, I – " Viren stopped at the threshold of the front door. "Master Clark!"

"Hey, Viren," Clark greeted as the elf rushed over to his bed.

"Oh, I must tell the others you have awakened!" Viren stared happily at Clark with his large eyes as if not believing what he saw.

"Is that for me?" Clark asked, noticing that Viren had some sort of bottle clasped in his long fingers.

The elf looked down at his own hands as if not remembering he even held something. "What? Oh! Yes, it is. It's the ointment Aimee said would help your scars heal faster." He looked up, somewhat saddened. "Though, she did also add that the scars may never completely leave your chest. It's hard to tell…Amon's claws are extremely deadly…everyone was afraid you were going to…well, you must already know."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Um…well…I'm sure the ointment stuff well help a lot though, right?" Clark said, trying not to sound too upset about having to bare a permanent reminder of Amon on his body.

"Yes, of course." Viren looked over at Lana who was staring at Clark, notably upset. He smirked however slightly when his little mind concocted a way to make her feel better.

"Um…I was going to apply this ointment myself, Master Clark, but seeing as you're awake, I do wish to go down and inform everyone as soon as possible. They're all dreadfully worried." He handed the bottle out to Lana. "Would you mind assisting Master Clark?"

Lana quickly looked from the bottle to Clark, who's eyebrows jumped a little. Swallowing, she took the ointment. "Yeah, of course. Anything to help."

Smiling gratefully, Viren backed up towards the door. "Well, I guess Aimee or I will come back to check on you later. Oh, and Rolf has told me that we would discuss your departure from Sogni Dromen over dinner in the main dining room. I guess I should tell him to begin preparing that meal for tonight. Is that all right with you?"

"Yeah, o-ok. Thanks," Clark exclaimed before the elf bowed and left the suite.

Clark then turned to Lana who was already squirting out a little of the ointment onto her hand. It had a shiny pearl color to it and gave off a refreshingly soothing odor. But although it was soothing, Clark already felt extremely uncomfortable about the situation.

"I don't know if this is gonna sting…" Lana warned as Clark quickly sat up a bit, inhaling deeply yet trying to remain calm.

She rested one knee on the edge of the bed and then dabbed her index finger into the puddle of the ointment in her palm. She decided to start with the shortest two cuts first which were on the outside. One ran from the right side of his collarbone to his left pec and the other from the spot just below his right pec to the middle of his torso.

"Ah!" Clark squeaked as soon as her finger touched his skin.

"Did that sting?" Lana asked, failing to stop a smile from appearing on her face.

"No…it's cold…"

She giggled softly and continued to cover his wounds with the ointment. Soon she'd finished every cut but the longest, which stretched from his left hip to the spot just under his right ear.

"Ow…ok, that one's a little sensitive," Clark stated, tightening his chest as he felt a sharp sting.

"Quit acting like a whimp, Clark. I'm almost finished," Lana explained, laughing a little more. Inside, however, she wished she'd just begun…oh the possibilities that could arise if she was only just a bit more bold…

Her finger slid slowly up the scar and Clark desperately wanted the flip-floppy feeling in his stomach to stop. When her finger finally reached his collarbone, he turned his head a little to let her reach the side of his neck, fighting the blush that was forming on his cheeks.

Lana moved more onto the bed, leaning over Clark to reach the end of the scar. She tried to hold back the urge to watch Clark as she did this. His breathing was completely uneven, and his deep gulps could easily be heard anywhere in the room.

"You…uh…done yet?" Clark asked slowly, making sure his voice wouldn't make some kind of noise that resembled a squeaky dog toy.

"Just a little more……there." As soon as she finished, Lana gave in and glanced at him.

His eyes stared into hers, the green swirls blending into the blue like two uniquely colored emeralds. She intended to smile at him, but she couldn't help but let her eyes slip down to his lips…

He watched her, unsure why she was looking at him so closely. Licking his lips, he tried to sit up a little more, only to realize it minimized the distance between him and Lana even more. He opened his mouth a little, planning to apologize for moving in so close, but suddenly he forgot how. His brain went into overdrive when he noticed Lana's hand had moved down to that point on his neck that sent a most unusual, yet welcoming sensation up his spine. By now all reasonable thoughts were blown from his brain and his very eager heart began to take control in Lana's goddess-like beauty…

His breath was tingling and warm and it was drawing Lana towards it. A lot of questions formed in her brain, most of them yelling, asking her what she was doing and why, but listening to her mind had stopped a long time go…

'Her eyes are closed! She closed her eyes!' Clark thought with panic. Eyes closed could only mean one thing – the thing he wanted so badly. He found his eyes were sliding shut also.

'Just wait…any second now!' His heart was jumping around in his chest like a hyperactive jackrabbit. This was all he wanted and more…just a kiss…

But in those few moments of waiting, something suddenly twisted deep inside him, warning him to stop this immediately. But why in the world would he want to do that!

He felt her lips touch his…her innocent, soft, unearthly lips.

'Wait…_unearthly_…'

And that's when it dawned on him - the reason why the warning sign had appeared. Reluctantly, he decided to take its advice.

"I-I can't do this, Lana. I'm sorry."

Lana opened her eyes, feeling as though she'd just woken up from one of the best dreams of her life just a second too early.

"Clark…I – "

"Look, it has nothing to do with you I…I mean I really want to do this…but there's something I really have to get out before I do."

Lana slowly backed away from Clark, grabbing the cloth on the table to wipe off the excess ointment on her hand, somewhat embarrassed. She then curled her legs up under herself on the end of the bed, pulling a piece of stray hair behind her ear. She watched Clark with concern as he chewed on his bottom lip, obviously thinking about something very intensely.

"What is it?" Lana asked timidly.

Clark forced himself to stare at her for a moment with confidence, but then chickened out, letting his gaze fall down to his hands.

"Um…" He felt sweat beginning to form on his forehead and his mouth go dry. Now he knew how his dad felt when he first told Clark the truth in the loft four years ago. If he ever got home, he promised himself to thank his dad for being so brave. This was by no means going to be easy.

"Okay…um…do you…uh…remember the Old Story Viren was telling us about? Back when we were in the forest?"

Lana nodded.

"You know the part where it says if two _humans_ find the Mist, Sogni Dromen will be saved and they will go back home?"

_The way he stressed 'human' puzzled Lana even more, but she nodded just the same._

"And you know how…we haven't gone back to Smallville yet?"

She tried to act like she understood, but then her eyebrows pulled down into a weird look. "Clark…I don't think I'm following what you're trying to say…"

He looked back up at her, mentally searching inside him, trying to muster up every piece of confidence he owned.

"I think we haven't gone back yet because…I'm not…exactly…human."

Lana glared at him, her mouth dropping a few centimeters. "Not exactly…human?"

"You can say that I'm joking, but when you really think about it…you'll know I'm being serious."

She stared at him. It wasn't an angry stare. It wasn't an understanding stare. I was just a plain, emotionless stare.

'Okay…that could've went a little better…' Clark swallowed, trying to think of something else to say. "Um…I have these…these abilities. I could tell you what they are but…I think I'd just freak you out. You'd have to see to believe them."

"A-abilities?"

Clark nodded, trying to be as calm and straightforward as possible for fear that Lana was going to go into shock any minute now. "Yeah. This place kind've block them though. I really don't know h – "

"So if you're not human…what are you?" she asked, still expressionless.

"Well…I'm pretty sure I'm from this planet – it's called Krypton. I came down in a spaceship during the meteor shower and – "

He stopped, realizing that Lana had gone very pale. A sudden look of worry crossed his face.

"Look, um, maybe I should just skip all that stuff until later. B-but my point is that…um…"

"You're an alien…and because of that…we won't be able to leave here…" Lana finished coldly, "…ever."

Clark immediately looked back down, feeling Lana's eyes watching him like a hawk. A few minutes later, he suddenly felt the bed shift abruptly. He looked up to see Lana had gotten off and was heading toward the door in quick, straight strides.

"I have to go," she mumbled almost unaudibly.

"Lana?" She continued walking towards the door. "Lana, come back. Please. It's not my fault. Lana, where - "

The doors slammed behind her, shaking the frame.

Clark let his head fall back on wall and let out a large gust of air.

'For once I just wish my intuition was wrong…'


	18. Dieciocho

Wow sorry guys about not updating for a while. I guess this wasn't the best time of year to post this. I had two parties to go to this weekend, I'm attempting to reread HP5 before the sixth book comes out, I'm trying to revise my older fan fics so I can maybe create my fan fiction website, and I have finals next week that I haven't even begun to study for.

So yeah. I'm been a little busy and I'm so very sorry for that. Usually I don't have a life :P

* * *

Dinner was scheduled as planned that evening and Clark assured Rolf and Viren that he was well enough to walk down to the dining hall. It did take him a while to reach it (not to mention a few short breaks in the corridors to catch his breath), but when he did find his destination, he knew it was worth it.

The room was just as elaborately decorated as the ballroom, but smaller in area. A long oak table filled the center and a pair of old-fashioned candlesticks holding a handful of glowing candles stood on the table.

He noticed there weren't a lot of people who had been invited and the guests only occupied a small portion of the table. Viren and his parents sat together on one side, and Rolf, Aimee, and Lana sat on the other. An empty chair was left next to her.

"Welcome, Monsieur Clark! I'm very delighted you are healed!" Rolf stated sincerely.

"I could hardly believe it when Viren said you were awake." Aimee said in her sweet accent. "I had almost lost all hope…no one has ever survived from Amon's Dodtrice. I still don't understand how…"

"You're the best healer Sogni Dromen has ever seen, Aimee," Wenda complimented with a smile. "And Clark is an extraordinary young man. I knew he had to be all right."

Clark smirked modestly and limped over to his seat, feeling the uncomfortable tension still rising between Lana and him. It had been hours since they had last spoke or even looked at each other.

He knew she was still bitter about his whole alien confession. He really couldn't blame her. He should've told her sooner. Why did he always wait until the last possible minute to act? It only made things hurt even more…

"How are your cuts doing by the way, Clark?" Wenda asked in a motherly tone that reminded Clark of his own mother.

"They're better…thanks to Aimee…and Lana." He turned to the girl next to him, giving her the best apology look he had in him – puppy dog eyes and all.

She noticed it, but quickly looked away before it could take any effect.

He sighed defeatedly.

"Well, this palace certainly has a whole new look to it now that the Mist is in control again," Emmet pointed out as he looked around the room.

Clark took this into consideration and realized he was right. Everything was brighter…cheerier…happier.

"The Mist is truly a miracle," Aimee stated sincerely. "As soon as I was informed that Clark was awake, one by one the wounded from the attack last night began to heal. It was as if the Mist was reaching into them…reviving them…"

"Wait. You mean everyone from last night is healed?" Clark asked in shock.

"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?"

"But there were people…fairies and dwarves…they were killed…they didn't survive…"

"They were Reborn."

"Reborn?" Clark asked with a frown.

"They were dreamed up again. In all honesty, no one ever really dies in Sogni Dromen," Viren explained seriously (even though he couldn't hide the fact that he was overjoyed no one was hurt). "They just disappear until some one dreams of them again by chance. They come back into this world and are alive again. It's extremely rare for so many creatures to be Reborn at the same time like that. Aimee is right. It's an absolute miracle."

"Then what about Amon and Diaba and Haras. They aren't truly gone?"

"They weren't exactly wounded like the others were. The Mist sort of…banished them." Viren's face dropped. "I've never seen anything like it. No one has. The truth is that we really don't know if those three are still here with us…we can only hope that the Mist truly saved us from them."

There was a short silence in which Rolf excused himself to help the servants to bring out the dinner.

During the meal, the conversations were very trivial and neither Lana nor Clark joined in on any of it. Both were to in to their own thoughts to register what was going on around them.

It wasn't until everyone was well into the meal that Rolf spoke about a more important subject.

"Well, I think it's about time we tackled the matter of getting these young kids back home, _vrai_?"

Lana's head snapped back to glare at Clark, which surprised him a bit. He'd never seen her look at him like that before…

Still, he knew what she wanted him to say and decided it would probably be the best thing if just went out and said it.

"Um…actually there's something I need to say about that." Clark swallowed hard when he noticed that all pairs of eyes were now focused completely on him. "Um…I don't think we're gonna be able to go back…at least not the way the Old Story says we are."

"Why in the world not?" Emmet asked hysterically. "You fit the description perfectly."

"No, no I don't," Clark shot back, very frustrated. "Lana does and I don't. Look, it's a really complicated thing that you probably wouldn't believe and even if you did I'd just feel weird telling you, but basically I'm not the boy the Old Story is asking for. Only a girl found the Mist, so the prophecy was wrong and we aren't going back. You can go ahead and try to find another way out, but if you do, please do the whole world a favor and just take Lana. She deserves it a hell of a lot more than me."

The whole speech Clark had just given lasted less than half a minute because he was talking so fast. For some reason something inside him just had to get it out. He knew it would be uncomfortable to sit in the aftermath of what he'd just said, so when he finished, he quickly stood and walked as fast as he could out of the room.

"What was the meaning of that?" Viren asked strangely.

Lana looked down at her plate, feeling even worse then she had. Sure she was angry at him for not even having the heart to tell her about himself, but she never once thought he'd rather live in a dream world alone than back in Smallville with everyone he loved. He could've just felt upset, but she'd never even seen him that upset before. It scared her. She was sure if he stayed here, with or without her, he'd force himself to dwell in the fact that it was all his fault. She knew he'd felt that feeling far too many times, and she wasn't going to make him feel it again. She was going to find another way to get Clark and her out of this together.

"He's just really angry that we aren't going to be able to go back is all," Lana stated weakly.

"That's how many of the others acted when they finally decided to give up finding the Mist. They cried and locked themselves in the strangest parts of the castle. Eventually they accepted it. I remember there was that young couple almost three decades ago that came here. Oh, they were so excited to find the Mist…"

Rolf continued on with his past memories, but Lana wasn't paying any attention to him. She was still trying to figure out a loophole. There had to be one, there always was. But what could there possibly be that would help them get back…

" – always seems this place gets landed with the nicest humans, though. Take Jake for example: for years he felt so horrible that he couldn't help us, and he swore it was him and that other young girl who would find the Mist, but they just never got the chance…"

"Jake!"

Rolf stopped talking and joined everyone else in staring at Lana blankly.

"_M'excuse?_"

"Jake…he's alive…isn't he?" Lana wondered, feeling a little stupid that she'd spoken out so rudely.

"Yes, he's in another part of the wing. He's being healed along with the others. He should be completely recovered anytime now."

"Then he must be the boy…he's the boy in the Old Story!" Lana's sudden smile could not have gotten bigger. "The Old Story said a boy and a girl would arrive in Sogni Dromen, but it never said they had to come at the same point in time."

Everyone else exchanged glances, slowly comprehending what she was telling them.

"Jake passed out after the snake bit him and missed the whole battle with Elsu and that's why we haven't gone back. Clark had nothing to do with it. All we have to do is wake Jake up and tell him who the Mist was! And I'll finally be home…" Her smiled was so large her cheeks began to hurt. She was sure Clark would be able to come back with her. Maybe if they held hands or something…after all, they'd came into this world together…oh she couldn't wait to tell him!

"How very clever of you, Mistress Lana," Viren commented with a nod. "I say we all head up to Jake's room after this fine dinner, say our good-byes, and let these humans go back where they belong."

They all eagerly finished their dinner, especially Lana who could hardly contain her excitement.

Clark, however, stood leaned up against the doorframe of the dining hall depressingly. Lana's words ran though his mind like a sharp blade:

"_Clark had nothing to do with it. All we have to do is wake Jake up and tell him who the Mist was! And I'll finally be home…"_


	19. Diecinueve

omg i'm SO sorry i haven't updated in forever! my stupid computer keeps crashing everytime i try to post a new chapter!

i finally got this work, except i have to send it all in HTML form, so i'm just praying it turns out all right. so if it looks weird, i'm sorry about that too.

also, i kept posting on Sweet when i didn't post here, so these next few chapters are gonna come a little quicker because i want this site to be caught up with the other one. yeah so good news for you, but my readers on Sweet will have to wait :oP

i'm really sorry again about not updating. Hope you can forgive me!

Clark sat in one of the bay windows of the castle, his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin resting on his knees.

From the window he could see a huge open field filled with wild flowers and fairies. The sun shined down on everything happily and the clouds rolled by like children running through a playground.

It was beautiful, but Clark no longer cared.

He felt alone - more alone then he ever thought he'd be. In a matter of a few minutes, he'd never see Lana again. Never again get to give her that smile that made her nose crinkle up and her cheeks turn pink. Never get to hold her when she felt bad. Never get to have another chance at a relationship with her…

A single tear slipped down his cheek and he closed his eyes in pain.

Why did he always mess things up? He always had to butt in the way and take matters into his own hands. He always had to be the hero that saved everyone. Did he really care, or was he just there to get a thank you? He honestly wasn't sure anymore…

Not that it was even a factor now. With Diaba, Haras, and Amon gone, there was no need for him to save anyone here. He'd just have to live out his life solo…a long, miserable life in a exotic dream world…all by himself.

Just then, he heard muffled voices coming up the stairway behind him.

" – so sad to see you gone, Lana. You gave this world so much."

"I don't know that it was all me, but thanks. I'm happy you're all free from those creatures."

Clark quickly rushed off the window's seat, hiding behind the nearest corner. He flattened himself against the wall just as Lana and the others were heading up the stairs on the other side. As they continued to comment Lana on how heroic she was, Clark began to fight with the voices in his head.

Talk to Lana, or not?

It would hurt her a lot less if he just faded out of her life…she could live on and find what she'd been wanting in Paris - no complications made possible by him. But he would forever kick himself inside if he never got the chance to tell her his real feelings straight to her face. It'd be like living on the other side of a glass wall - he might be able to see Lana in her dreams…but never get to be there with her. Back and forth his mind went like a ping pong ball. He wished he had more time to decide.

Meanwhile, Lana entered Jake's room which looked remarkably similar to Clark and hers, only it was smaller and made for one guest instead of two.

"I suppose this is it then," Wenda said, somewhat saddened. She looked at Lana with tear-filled eyes, trying to force a smile. "I wish nothing but the best for…Earth is it called?"

Lana laughed a little. "Yeah. And thank you all so much. I think some of my happiest memories will be of this place."

Everyone took turns hugging and kissing Lana with feelings of joy that their country was saved, but also of sorrow because the adventure they had ridden was over forever.

In fact, everyone was so caught up in emotions, nobody noticed the boy in the bed groggily pull himself out of his sleep.

"Wha – what the hell is going on? Did I die!"

"Oh, Jake! We have some wonderful news for you!"

He looked at everyone in turn, still utterly lost, until he noticed Lana. He large smile appeared on his pale face.

"Lana, you're alive! How!"

"Clark…and a certain other being…saved me at the very last second." She went on to explain to Jake all that happened, but being careful not to reveal who the Mist was just yet.   
While recalling what Clark had done for her by pushing her out of the tigers way only to be hit himself, how extremely caring he was…how overly-protective, yet completely unselfish. For a while she almost began to like him again…

As she finished her account of last night, she confirmed to herself that she would definitely have a long talk with Clark when they got back to Smallville…well maybe after a week of her not speaking to him. It was the only treatment she could do that would make Clark feel bad for not telling her his secret sooner.

But then she wondered…if Jake and her were the boy and girl…would they be the only two that would be allowed to go back? She'd better make sure Jake didn't find out who the Mist was before she found Clark.

"Wow…so who was the Mist? One of the butlers? I bet it was Francis," Jake guessed, overjoyed about the good news.

"No. It was Elsu, the black stallion Clark and Lana rode to the castle," Emmet belted out before anyone else could stop him.

Suddenly, Lana noticed a shimmering glow around her and Jake that fluttered around them like a waterfall. Jake looked around in shock, then let out a loud scream as he realized what was happening.

"We're going back! No way! Wahoo! Bye everybody! Thank you so much!"  
Lana couldn't move. Her heart was beating faster and it wasn't because she was excited. Clark wasn't here! He wasn't going back! How could she go back without him? Sure, she was mad at him, but she couldn't imagine going to school…or to the Kent's…and never seeing that gorgeous smile greet her!

Her mouth opened to try to say something, but her voice made no sound. She looked over at Jake and noticed too that his mouth was chattering non-stop, but no sound came from it.

Soon the glitter surrounding them began to cause the atmosphere to fade out. Everyone in the room was waving and crying and mouthing 'good-bye's. She opened her mouth once again to stop this from happening, but it was about as successful as the first attempt.

Just then, the door to Jake's room flew open and a determined Clark came through it. When he noticed that Jake and Lana were both slowing dissolving before him, his eyes grew big.

"What's happening!" he shrieked at the others.

"They're going back home." Viren suddenly became alarmed. "Why…you're not going with them!"

"Viren, I have to go home!" Clark reached out to grab Lana's arm, but the glimmering around her shocked him and he jumped back.

"We automatically thought that if Jake and Lana were leaving, you would be too," Wenda explained, feeling horrible that they hadn't checked to make sure Clark was okay.  
Clark tried to stop tears from forming as he helplessly watched Lana leave him forever. She was also staring him, but from behind the glittery wall, he was unable to see that she had let a tear slip down her cheek.

"You only have one chance," Aimee said from behind Clark. He turned to see her pointing to the spot on the ground in which Lana stood. "The Old Story says that at the base of where to two humans teleport back, a small portal will appear. It'll last not but a few seconds, then it will vanish forever."

"What? Why would it make a portal?" Emmet asked doubtfully.

"Because despite what Clark believes, he was prophesied to be here just as Lana and Jake.

"You see, the Old Story was never written down, so it passed on each generation orally. There was a mention of another non-human creature – an alien if you will - accidentally coming to Sogni Dromen, but since no one could believe it, over time that portion of the story was cut out."

"Wait…you knew…that I wasn't…" Clark was lost for words.

Aimee only smiled and continued her explanation. "My grandmother's grandmother was friends with Nathin the prophet and was one of the first to here the Old Story. Our family knew exactly what was going to happen from the very slightest detail, but Nathin made us promise to keep the true Old Story to ourselves until it was finished so as to prevent it from being found in the wrong hands."

"So…I was destined to be here?" Clark wondered, feeling extremely confused.

Aimee nodded. "Another life form would come and face his toughest fears. He would do anything, even die, for the two chosen ones who were destined to find the Mist."

Clark looked down, hardly believing that he really did have a purpose here…

"I believe in your world, you would be referred to as the Knight in Shining Armor, no?"

He looked back up at Aimee and noticed a sparkle in her turquoise-colored eyes.

"Why couldn't I teleport back myself?"

"Nathin's prophecy couldn't be sure if the non-human creature wanted to go back to Earth or not since he never really belonged there in the first place. The Old Story actually gave you a choice, Clark. You can go back, or you can stay here."

Letting these words sink in, Clark turned back to look at Lana who was almost coming gone from his view. She watched him unblinkingly, unaware of any of the conversation Aimee and Clark had just had. Finally she broke down and her eyes began to gush with tears.

Just then, two small black holes whistled and swirled in the places where Jake and Lana had just been. Lana's vision was immediately cut off and she was sucked into a whipping tube of bright white light.

She was finally going home.

She was finally going back to Smallville.


	20. Veinti

Lana had expected to feel light-headed or dizzy when she teleported back to Smallville, but when she landed on her bed in Chloe's house, she found that she felt perfectly fine.

It was peaceful and quiet. The only noise was the tick-tocking of her clock. She looked over at it and noticed it was two minutes until midnight. Scanning the rest of her room, she noticed it looked exactly as it had when she left to go talk to Clark. She looked down at herself - happy bunny pajama pants and a cozy black sweater she'd bought in Paris. She had been wearing the exact same thing before she changed into something to wear over to Clark's house.

"It wasn't a dream…I know it wasn't…" She reached up and rubbed her forehead, "…was it?"

Lana got close to two hours of sleep that night, but it didn't stop her from going to school the next day. She had to see if Clark was there. If he was, then Sogni Dromen was just an incredibly intense dream that she would never speak of again as long as she lived. But if he wasn't…well…she wasn't exactly sure what she'd do…

She got to school just as the bell rang for first hour, which made it impossible to stop by the Torch, where Clark usually hung out before class.

'No biggie. I have first hour Spanish with him…he'll be there. He hasn't missed a day all year,' Lana told herself optimistically. She had to be optimistic. It was the only thing stopping her from dropping into the abyss of a life with no Clark.

She eagerly rushed into the room…and stopped when she pasted the threshold.

There was her desk - empty. And there was Clark's desk behind hers - also empty.

"Excuse me," a boy said from behind her, trying to get past.

"Oh, sorry," Lana moved out of the doorway and quickly sat down in her seat.

'Okay…it's not like he's always the first one in the classroom, Lana. The Torch is clear on the other side of the school. It might take him a few - '

DING DING DING

Her string of optimism snapped and she fell down to reality with a harsh, painful smack.

Clark was never, ever late to his first hour class.

As Mrs. Davis began the day's lesson, Lana stared at her grammar book, her mind not even remotely near the subject of irregular verbs. She almost wanted to drop down and cry that very second. What could she possibly tell the Kents? They would never believe that their son was lost in an imaginary world!

Lana's depression lasted all the way through the day. She politely asked people to leave her alone, letting them use their own imagination for the reason why. She didn't laugh at the jokes the other guys made in class. She didn't smile when she passed her friends. The cloud of black depression continued to cover her all day until eighth hour.

AP English. One of Lana's favorite classes because Mr. Stein, the coolest English teacher ever, taught it. She came in and sat down in her usual seat in the front.

Mr. Stein was at his desk, hands folded in front of him, glasses pushed up against the bridge of his nose. Although he was almost fifty, he still dressed like a teenager and surprisingly still looked good in it. Lana supposed that was why he was considered everyone's favorite - it seemed as though the bridge between student and teacher wasn't quite so creepy and long when it came to Mr. Stein and his zany, yet original antics.

"Good Morning, Lana," Mr. Stein stated in his usual happy mood.

"Hey," Lana said, not even trying to hide her grief.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah…but if I told you, you'd think I was crazy." She smirked as she dug around in her book bag for her English book.

"Right…women stuff, I suppose?"

She looked up at him, noticing he was wearing that Mr. Stein grin that was only second to Clark's cute, puppy dog one.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "No! Not even close."

He laughed a little and then began to write down something in his planner. As the rest of the class came filing in, Lana heard part of one of the football player's conversations.

" - and Kent's got himself five extra laps to run tomorrow at practice." Jeff the lanky quarterback said as he slid into his desk.

"Why?" Kaitlin, one of the cheerleaders, asked as she too sat down.

"Cause he wouldn't run today in P.E. Said he wasn't feeling good and hadn't slept all night. The coach told him if he wanted to sit on his lazy ass all day, he should've stayed home."

"That's so mean! Clark is the nicest guy in the world," Kaitlin complained before her friend poked her on the shoulder and whispered a new subject of conversation into her ear.

Jeff went back to copying Kaitlin's English homework.

"Mr. Stein?" Lana acknowledged with bewilderment.

He looked up at her, adjusting his glasses. "Yes, Lana?"

"Do you have a list of all the people who are absent today?"

Mr. Stein searched through a pile of papers on his desk and then pulled one out.

"Is Clark Kent there?"

He gave her a quick glance as if to say, "A-ha! You have guy problems…" and quickly searched for Clark's name, muttering it a few times as if to give him luck in finding it quicker.

"Mmm…well, he was put down as absent, but it says he signed in at the office during lunch."

And, as if on cue, Clark shuffled into the room, hair a mess and large bags under his eyes. He looked extremely tired, but to Lana he looked perfect.

"Wow…and look what the cat dragged in," Mr. Stein exclaimed as Clark plopped down in a desk in the last row next to Jeff.

"Did you sleep at all, dude?" Jeff asked, almost laughing at how terrible he looked.

"Like two minutes," Clark admitted truthfully, letting his head hit his desktop.

"Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay awake for forty more minutes, Clark, because today we are going to learn about the ever exciting…." Mr. Stein jumped up from his desk and began to write on the board, "…1900's American Poetry!"

A few kids grumbled and Mr. Stein whipped around, glaring at them. They're groans morphed into silence in a matter of a few seconds and Mr. Stein nodded at them, satisfied.

"As I was saying, the next forty minutes I guarantee will be chalk-full of non-stop American poetry nirvana! Who's excited!" Mr. Stein exclaimed in his over dramatic tone that made a few kids smirk.

"Wahoo! Poetry!" Jeff shrieked from the back of the room as he clapped stupidly. The other jocks joined in while everyone else laughed and shook their heads.

Everyone except Clark and Lana.

Twenty minutes later, Jeff was slumped over his desk asleep, drool slipping out of his open mouth. Kaitlin was laughing at something her friend had just wrote in a note to her. The rest of the class was either zoned out or acting as decoys - actually paying attention so Mr. Stein wouldn't get too suspicious.

"So, why would Faulkner go to all that trouble to create this metaphor?" Mr. Stein scanned the room, trying to pick the most unsuspecting student to answer. "Clark?"

"What!" His head shot up in surprise and a few of the decoys laughed at his stupidity. He had been scribbling something down, lost in thought and had only heard his name.

"Too busy taking down notes?"

"Uh…y-yeah."

"That's funny," Mr. Stein stated with a smirk, "because I haven't given any yet."

Clark opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't think of anything. He looked back down at the paper he'd been writing on.

"What is it that you're doing, Clark?"

"J-just…um…something…"

"Poetry?"

Clark's head jolted back at Mr. Stein in surprise. "A-actually it is, but - "

"Oh, really?" Mr. Stein's expression turned into one of interest. Torturing unsuspecting students was a fun, exciting game to him. Each time he played, it was something new. "Why don't you come up here and read it to the class? Everyone would like to listen to it I'm sure."

Lana looked on helplessly. This kind of humility was only reserved for troublemakers. It was somewhat sad to see it happen to Clark.

"Um…it's kind of suppose to be read only by this other person - "

"Clark," Mr. Stein said sternly, "read it, sit down, and you won't have a detention for not following my directions. It's as simple as that."

Sighing, Clark stood and came to the front of the class. He put the paper on the podium and took another breath. He didn't look up at anyone as he spoke.

"Uh…I-it really doesn't have an actual title yet…but um…w-well I guess it's called 'The Dream' by…well, you know - me."

Jeff and a few others stifled a laughter and were immediately hushed by Mr. Stein's glare.

Clark coughed weakly before beginning:

"I started out completely alone  
Even in a dream such as this I had no one to turn to  
Nothing but a film of misleading lies to hide behind  
Nothing but an empty life

"Then she came to me  
On a sturdy black stallion  
A horse of nobility, for she was so noble  
So royal in my eyes

"All I could see was her heart  
And hope  
And pray  
It was beating just for me

"She noticed me from a distance  
And I looked into her eyes  
Her Soul's Delicate Windows  
And I knew she could see my heart, too

"And suddenly our hearts connected  
Two beings who had once felt so alone  
Now embrace each other wholeheartedly  
The facade washed away  
Like a dolphin crashing through the water to free itself into the sky

"We, us  
I'd never seen so much beauty in those words before her  
We accepted each other  
Our faults  
Our pasts  
All was happily lost  
All was joyously forgotten

"Then, and only then  
I looked at her face  
It was captivating  
It was breath taking  
And it was perfect

"But a face was not what I longed for  
Beauty was not what I longed for  
The only thing I longed for  
Was the thing I'd already found

"Love  
The love of the girl on her stallion  
In this wonderful dream  
It was enough to overflow my once love-deprived heart  
I was, at last, truly satisfied  
For forever, I was truly satisfied

"Let me dream of this girl  
Until I can dream no more."

There was a long, quiet pause in which it seemed like time had stopped. No one knew what to say or do. Clark remained at the podium, his eyes darting from Mr. Stein to the paper - to the classroom, and then the paper. He swallowed a few times and muttered, "Um…that's it," and then nervously walked back to his seat.

Jeff was once again the first one to clap. Except this time, everyone, including Mr. Stein and Lana, joined in.

Lana watched Clark, who sat down and quickly hid the poem in his notebook modestly, cheeks turning bright red. Her mind was still trying to comprehend what he'd just told to everyone. Although he didn't once look at her as he read the poem, she knew it was for her. And she knew it was meant to serve a few things: an apology, an admittance to his love for her, and most of all - a confirmation that Sogni Dromen and everything in it was real. Both Clark and her had really experienced it.

And that was all Lana needed to know.

DING DING DING

"Clark, could I see you up here for a sec?" Mr. Stein asked, waving the still shook up teenager to the front.

Everyone else filed out and made their way to their lockers hurriedly.

"That was an exceptionally written poem."

"Thanks."

"Truly. You have talent. Have you ever thought of taking my journalism class?" Mr. Stein wondered.

Clark's mouth fell slightly. Mr. Stein only allowed the best writers into his journalism class. Had he really written that great of a poem?

"Wow…um…thanks, but…well, like I said, this was kinda suppose to be a one-time thing for someone…" Clark mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Right…right…" The teacher nodded and scratched his mustache tenderly, then crossing his legs in the brown leather chair at his desk. "Well…that female Smallville High student you're giving that poem to is damn lucky."

Clark's eyebrows raised partly because Mr. Stein had just openly cussed, and partly because of what he had just implied.

"What makes you think I wrote it for a girl who goes here?"

Mr. Stein couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Educated guess."

Smiling stupidly, Clark looked down from the binder in which he had the poem, back to Mr. Stein. His face scrunched up into an unsure look.

"Do you think it was a dumb I idea?"

"If it came from the heart, no I most certainly don't." He beckoned Clark to move closer and then whispered, "The honest truth is that it doesn't matter if you wrote her a poem or spent a few seconds decorating a freakin' twenty-five cent birthday card. If what you've done came directly from the place inside you that you want her to be in, it's guaranteed to work. Just watch."

Clark nodded and then headed for the door.

"And Clark?"

He stopped and looked back.

"The offer for journalism is still going to be open tomorrow."

"I'll think about it."

And with that, Clark smiled and exited the room.

It was incredibly hard to describe how Clark felt as he sped home. He felt regret, embarrassment, excitement, and joy all at the same time. So many more questions popped into his head and they were bugging him more with each moment he thought about them. Most of the annoyance came from the fact that it would be impossible for him to find the answers to ones like:

What had Lana thought about his poem?

Did Lana even remember Sogni Dromen?

Would she ever speak to him again?

Did she even realize he wrote it for her?

Countless more questions like this filled his head as he crashed through the screen door of his house.

Then he came to a sudden halt when he noticed who was in his living room. All his original thoughts scrambled anyway from his mind like a dropped box of marbles. His backpack slid off his shoulder and landed on the carpet with a thud.

"Wa-Wakanda!"

"Hello again, Clark. I'm glad you remember me." The old lady smiled brightly as she sat between Jonathan and Martha Kent on the couch, sipping from a teacup Clark didn't remember his mother ever owning. "We certainly have a lot to talk about, don't we?"


	21. Veintiuno

"You were in my dream – how did you - ?"

The woman only laughed and pointed to a chair next to the couch. "Why don't you sit down?"

Clark looked at each of his parents – both were smiling. He furrowed his brow and cautiously sat down in the chair.

Wakanda took another sip from her tea. The cup, Clark now noticed, seemed to be made of a gold with many intricate designs carved into it. She set it down on the table in front of her, letting Clark see the unusual fuchsia liquid bubbling inside.

"So, um…what is going on…exactly?" Clark wondered, rubbing his palms together nervously.

"Wakanda told us everything, Clark," Jonathan admitted.

"E-everything? As In…" He swallowed, feeling out of place for some reason, "…everything?"

"Oh, Clark you're so brave!" Martha patted her son's knee with pride. "That whole experience…it must have been so scary…"

"Wait, how would you know everything that went on? You were in my dream. You weren't real," Clark stated, staring at the old lady sitting next to his emotional mother.

"This is exactly why I wanted to visit you today – you still haven't figured out the entire picture." Wakanda turned to face Clark more directly and he leaned forward, telling himself not to miss a word of what this wise old woman was about to say.

"Your father and I will be in the other room. I'm sure this might take a while," Martha exclaimed, pride still beaming on her rosy face. Jonathan led her out of the living room quietly.

Wakanda watched them go with a smile, then turned back to Clark to continue with their conversation. "Yes, I was in your dream, but I'm not just a figment of your imagination by any means. I'm the great grandmother of Ira, the new boy at Smallville High."

Still confused, Clark took in this information tentatively.

"Um…ok…"

"Last night, my great grandson and his friend Mikail came to my house saying how they'd just hit you and another young girl."

"Ira…and Mikail hit us?" Clark repeated, hardly believing the words.

Wakanda nodded, causing her large jeweled earrings to jingle.

"Ira said the two people disappeared as soon as they hit them and I was the only one he could trust to help. So, I did a little research into my incantations after I found that you had both been sent to Sogni Dromen – "

"Incantations?" Clark felt just as lost as he did when Viren had been telling him the Old Story.

Wakanda smiled at his bewilderment. "Yes. I'm witch, you see."

If it was possible, Clark's jaw would've snapped and his mouth would've dropped to the floor.

The old lady laughed a little. "Oh, Clark. I am sorry you keep finding bends in the road. I guess you just have accept that what you see isn't always what you get."

"But…I still don't understand. Ira and Mikail…how could they possibly have caused Lana and I to be sent into Sogni Dromen?"

"Yes, it's quite a complicated explanation," Wakanda nodded. "Ever since Ira was young he knew that his powers of hallucination were a burden. He knew that if they somehow mixed with another life form's abilities…complications could arise."

"Complications like sending people into Sogni Dromen?"

"Sogni Dromen as well as other dimension people aren't even aware of yet. You see, his powers resided in the mind and the senses. When he is experiencing extreme panic or excitement, particles are automatically released from his body. And if they mix with foreign particles brought out by the same excitement…"

"Mikail?"

Wakanda nodded once again, smiling oddly.

"Then why did we get sent into Sogni Dromen and not them?" Clark asked with confusion.

"Neither Ira nor Mikail can work their powers on one another. It just…can't happen. So the only other beings that the released powers could attach to and control were Lana and you." Wakanda took another satisfying sip of her drink.

Clark looked down at the carpet, processing everything slowly.

"So…so you did a spell that would let me see you in my dreams?" he wondered, trying to catch on.

"It wasn't really a spell, just a last resort. At first I wanted to teleport myself into the dream realm, but I didn't have any idea how I would get out. So, I took a different route and did something called lucid dreaming. I dreamed my way into your mind and told you as much as I could about the Old Story. Oh, I know it's hard to comprehend, Clark..."

"How did you know about the Old Story? Or anything that was going to happen?"

"Oh, the old story has been in my family for generations," Wakanda admitted with a sigh. "Nathin was the prophet who came up with it."

"Yeah, Viren was telling Lana and me about him."

"Well, he was also a real person just as you and me. He'd dreamed up the prophecy one night and that's how it spread into Sogni Dromen. Before that he'd actually thought he was going batty or something." She let out a short giggle and took another drink of the liquid. "That's when he came to me."

Clark almost said, 'Whoa, you're really that old!', but only just stopped himself.

"I was a psychiatrist back then. He told me all about the thoughts that had been eating at his mind, and I slowly found all he said had some connection to the dream realm - Sogni Dromen.

"We both began to do piles and piles of in depth work on the subject. However, most of our theories could only be based on beliefs of ancient cultures that have long since died out.

"Nathin finally decided to lucid dream into Sogni Dromen and getting some real proof. But his dream only confirmed his suspicions about Sogni Dromen's loss of the Mist and everything else that was full of goodness."

Clark listened to all she said with awe. "So what happened to him?"

"He grew old trying to save the dream world and eventually lost his mind. The Alsymers soon killed him after that."

"Wow...so it was his fault that all this happened?"

"No, not at all. In fact, because of him, Sogni Dromen had a head start and knew exactly what to expect.

"Unfortunately, the races in that realm are just about as doubtful as ours. When the prophecy was first introduced, it included every single detail to the events that would happen. But no one believed it, so a bunch of idiots decided to cut out some of the 'outrageous' matters so people would pay more attention to it."

"Like the part about me," Clark added sadly.

Wakanda cocked her head to one side sympathetically. "Aw, why do you say it like that?"

"Say it like what?"

"Like what you are is a curse."

"Because it is!" He hadn't meant to say it that loud, so he swallowed uncomfortably and added. "Sorry..."

Wakanda once again curled her deep wrinkles into a smile and then moved closer to Clark.

"Your parents tell me that you've decided to blame everything bad that's happened in this town on yourself."

Clark stared at the floor and let out a long sigh. "Everything here that's bad is somehow connected to the meteor shower. I came in it. Why shouldn't it be my fault?"

He hadn't really meant to admit that part about coming down in the meteor shower, but the way Wakanda acted so unaffected by his words, he supposed she somehow already knew.

"Clark, Sogni Dromen and even the Old Story were founded well before your time. If you weren't here, Lana would've been taken in that world alone and the 'knight' who was meant to save her would've been missing."

Reluctantly, Clark looked up at her as she spoke. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. "Wait…that sword…"

Wakanda grinned broadly, as if already knowing what he was going to ask. "Yes?"

"It had Kryptonian writings on it…how…"

"Now that part of the story was reserved specifically for you, Clark. The Phantom was your demon and you had to face it alone. The sword was there as your weapon and it's still your means of defense now. That writing on it was what you stand and fight for."

"Truth and justice…" Clark juggled the words around in his mind. He suddenly began to see how right that explanation was. "That's why I liked it so much in Sogni Dromen. In the end, I found out that I really belonged there…everything had a meaning and a purpose…I finally had a purpose."

"Whether you choose believe it or not, Clark, you have a purpose on Earth. Lana and Jake do also."

"Yeah…then I guess all I'm good for is saving people from dream worlds."

"Of course not." Wakanda spoke up, taking off the smile that she'd worn almost the entire time Clark had talked to her. "Sogni Dromen was a small bit of your life. It was magical and special and you'll never get another experience like it again. In that realm, you had a solid purpose – a destiny. But it's not like that in reality.

"There is no such thing as destiny here, Clark. Krypton didn't even have it. Your life is what you make of it. It's not written or foreseen yet. If it were, we could just sit back and let life take it's course around us."

"How can there be no destiny? No fate?" Clark wondered doubtfully.

Wakanda smiled and shook her head. "There are separate roads you can choose in life. Some may seem unspeakable, yet they're still there available to you. If you happen to follow one that leads you so something amazing, that's fate. It's rare, but some people actually can follow a road in their life that may feel like destiny because it's lined with fate – meeting up with people and ideas at just the right time…connecting with everything in life that will make them happy.

"That's the key to life. That's what everyone in the real world is searching for. They are trying to find that one road in their life that will take them all the way to glory. That's happiness. That's the only destiny that exists in this world.

"Maybe in the beginning your life wasn't chosen by you. You were automatically sent down the path of coming to Earth, but now you have to find another road. Your fate road. Everyone has one. You just have to discover if you have what it takes to find it."

"So, what your saying is that I have no destiny, but I do have the chance to find my fate in the world?"

Wakanda was beaming now. Her expression reminded Clark of a huge, great waterfall bubbling and foaming with words of inspiration. "It's what separates Sogni Dromen from this world. We have the chance to change destiny for better or for worse. I had to come here today to tell you that, Clark. You were destined to go to Sogni Dromen and that is all. The question for you now in life is: can you see that road to destiny and do you have the courage to take it?"

For the first time in his life, Clark finally felt like he had a purpose here. However small or big it may be, he would find it. He would find his destiny.

"Thanks, Wakanda."

"It was my pleasure." She stood and headed towards the front door as she added. "And don't be such a stranger all the time. My house is just two blocks down from the Talon. Come and visit a poor old woman once and a while, will ya?"

Clark grinned. "You bet."

"You're a good boy, Clark Kent. A very lucky boy, too."

She then stopped at the front door and, to Clark's surprise, poured the rest of her drink on her head. It trickled over her in streaks of purple and gold until she was completely gone.


	22. Uno Ultimo Veintidos

it's finally come. this is the last chapter (as well as my last day of school)! i hope you enjoyed it. i'm currently thinking up other ideas for fics, but nothing too concrete yet. and ever since a few weeks ago i've been trying to make a site for all my fics (fan fic and original) because i've put some here that i didn't on Sweet and vice versa. but i'll try to write more as i'm doing all that cause i can't escape my clana fluff urges. lol

thanks for the all your amazingly kind words! XOXO to you all!

Up in his loft, Clark heard the familiar clicking of heels, but tried to convince himself they didn't belong to who he thought. It wasn't until they reached the landing of the loft that he looked up from his spot on the couch, hardly believing his guess was right.

"Lana…" He swallowed and looked down at his hands. "Look, I – "

"I really liked listening to your poem in Mr. Stein's class today," Lana broke in, fumbling with a piece of folded paper in her hands. "It never seemed like that was your thing."

Clark shrugged. "It's not. I was…inspired I guess. I had to get some things out."

Their eyes connected. He watched her closely, trying to decipher if she really did remember Sogni Dromen - if she really remembered hearing his secret – but it was impossible to tell. She didn't _seem_ mad at least…

After a while, Lana pulled out of the strange staring contest and looked at her fingers still delicately holding the paper.

"I…um…I came over because…I figured since you told your true feelings in a poem, I should too…" She licked her lips and unfolded the note. "I didn't write it, but…but I hope it'll still get the right message across..."

At first, Clark tilted his head slightly, not sure what to make of her actions. Eventually he decided to just go along with it and sighed, giving her a smile.

"I'm listening."

She nodded and looked down at her paper. Then, she began to recite the poem she'd been practicing nervously on her way over.

"i carry your heart with me

(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it

(anywhere i go you go, my dear;

and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)  
i fear no fate

(for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)  
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant  
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows  
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud  
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;

which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)  
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart

(i carry it in my heart)"

Carefully, Lana folded the paper back up and tucked it into her jeans pocket. She took a deep breath before looking back up at Clark.

"e. e. cummings," he suddenly remarked.

She grinned. "He's always been one of my favorites."

"It's a beautiful poem."

Her smiled slowly faded and her legs began to move, advancing towards Clark.

"I meant every word of it, Clark. I never realized just how much I could care about someone…until we had our little adventure." She suddenly changed her course and stopped at the window of the loft, looking out the window as if in remembrance.

Clark stood suddenly. "So you remember?"

Turning back to face him, Lana spoke seriously. "I don't know how I'll ever forget."

He scrunched up his face, the feelings of guilt and pain falling back into his heart like a vicious rainstorm. He moved to her quickly.

"Lana, I'm sorry. I made you process too many things and once. I should've just been up front with you from the start, but - "

"Clark, stop, please."

Obediently, Clark halted in his steps when he noticed Lana's frightened stare looking at him.

"So all that stuff you said when you were hurt…all of it was true?"

He knew if he thought through this situation enough that he could get her to believe he was still a human. Just cover up a few loose ends and he'd be home free.

Nevertheless…

"Yes. It was."

"And…those scars? Are they still there?"

He bit his lip and looked down, slowly lifting up his shirt to reveal a perfectly sculpted chest. "I guess my body healed from them when we left that world. I kind of have this…super-healing ability..."

She swallowed deeply, almost as if she was nodding. It was hard to believe that she was in the presence of a superhuman…an alien from another planet…what was it? Krypton? It was all so unbelievable, yet when she looked through her past memories thoroughly enough, she realized how very understandable it was. There were so many reasons for her to hate him for what he did, but their were also many more reasons to spare him the pain. For years he put this whole burden on only the shoulders of his parents and himself. As she watched him standing in the loft like a little lost puppy, she couldn't help but come to the conclusion that he had suffered enough in his life. Her anger towards him didn't need to be added to the list.

Ever to slowly, Lana moved towards him, her right hand rising from her side as if in a trance.

He watched with confusion as she minimized the distance between them. He nervously pulled his shirt back down when felt his stomach bubbling inside with anticipation.

Finally, her hand gently brushed against his cheek. She pursed her lips, fighting with her nerves to stop shaking. It was undeniable how powerful the air felt at that moment.

Reflexively, Clark closed his eyes at her soft skin touching his. It was as if this one gesture meant that everything was ok. She was a human, he was an alien… yet they were touching each other like two normal love-struck teenagers would.

Still, Clark knew that Lana had not been told the whole story. He sighed and pulled his eyes open, trying to ignore the tingly feeling at the back of his neck.

"Lana, I haven't told you everything…I…" He looked down, holding back the tears getting ready to fall from his eyes. "I…I killed your parents. I came down in the meteor shower…and I killed them."

Lana frowned at him. "Clark, you couldn't possibly have - "

"Lana, I was in the meteor shower. If not me, who else!" Clark looked at her sternly, then let his head fall back downward.

Her mouth dropped in surprise, but she wasn't going to give up on him that easily. "No one was to blame for that. What happened with my parents…I miss them a lot, and I use to hate the meteor shower for taking them away, but…but there's nothing we can do to bring them back. Telling yourself it was your fault is only hurting you more, Clark. It wasn't you. It wasn't anyone."

Clark stared at her in amazement. She didn't hate him for that? Wow.

But unfortunately, he knew he still wasn't finished. His gaze fell back to the floorboards.

"But e-even if we ever truly got together…my enemies…they could find you…hurt you…do…horrible things…and I could never forgive myself if – "

Lana stopped him with her left hand, which she covered over his mouth. She then put a hand on each side of his pain-filled face and forced him to look back up at her. He looked like was about to cry and Lana realized that she almost felt the same way.

"Now I see…you grew up blaming everything that happened in Smallville on yourself. You spent years pining over things in life that you convinced yourself you could never have and that's why you pushed yourself away from me before." She gave him a sweet, sympathetic smile. "That's your weakness Clark. You believe that because you came here during a horrible tragedy that you are a tragedy yourself. You feel like if your getting something good in life that you should push it away because it's too good for something like you."

Clark could no longer help it and let a tear fall from his face.

"Well I'm here to tell you that you're wrong, Clark." She wiped his tear away, trying to keep her voice firm and convincing. "You're wrong about everything. It's time to abandon those wrong thoughts and find out your real purpose in life."

"I-I know…I know that now…" Clark whispered softly.

Lana suddenly moved her face closer to his, lowering her voice slightly.

"Quit regretting the past and dreading the future. You need to focus on this moment right now with me, Clark. Your life is happening now. You have to stand here now and decide."

He looked into her deep almond colored eyes with a whole new feeling. Honestly, he couldn't remember a choice in his life where he didn't consider how it might effect the rest of his life. He'd never only looked at the present. He'd never chosen a path solely for himself. It felt so much more fulfilling…so much more free. Like the chains were broken and the sky was clear. He felt as if he could fly.

"What do _you_ want, Clark?" Lana asked softly.

"I - want…you," Clark admitted weakly, his eyes glistening with tears.

Lana smiled and pulled his face down to hers, letting her lips connect with his in a long-awaited, satisfying kiss. He attacked back at her lips almost instantly, causing Lana to giggle into his mouth. He pulled away for a moment to gaze upon her angelic beauty. A perfect Clark Kent grin shone on his face and he eagerly pulled her even closer to him, kissing her as though he'd never get to kiss her wonderful lips ever again.

It was then that the realization occurred to them both. A feeling swirling somewhere inside them that had never been awaken before. Something dark and unwelcoming in their souls was missing…and something new and exciting had replaced it. Except this something new let light shine brightly in even the most darkest of corners so they could finally see each other for who they really were. It seemed as though the more they stayed together to stronger their hearts fused together until it was one…pure and sweet.

And they knew this was it. This was what love was really meant to be like.

A few hours had passed. Clark had spent most of it explaining to Lana what Wakanda had told him, and of course filling in the blanks about his abilities. He was surprised to see that she didn't act scared when he demonstrated them to her. She was more intrigued and happy to know the truth than anything else.

The sun began to set and Lana was now draped over Clark on the loft couch. Her hands were resting on the middle of his chest, stacked on top of one another and propping up her chin as she watched him dreamily.

His eyes were closed, trying to make up for some of the sleep he'd lost the night before. His hands were warm and soothing on her back and a small innocent breeze played with the locks of messy hair on his face.

"I love you so much, Clark," Lana whispered a loud. She knew he probably couldn't hear it, but it was nice to admit it to the world after a year of denial.

A smile unexpectedly curled onto Clark's lips and opened his mouth to speak.

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,  
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,  
so I love you because I know no other way than this:  
where 'I' does not exist, nor 'you,'  
So close that your hand on my chest is my hand,  
So close that your eyes close and I fall asleep."

Lana lifted her head off her hands, staring at Clark in disbelief.

"You wrote me a poem _and_ memorized the end of 'Sonnet 17' for me?"

"I found the poem in my English book in eighth grade. I memorized my favorite part and told myself that if I ever found someone I could truly spend my life with I would recite it to her. So yeah…I guess I did memorize it for you."

Clark quickly opened one eye and noticed Lana's expression. She seemed extremely impressed, yet somewhat confused.

"In a nutshell, that means I love you very much too, Lana."

A smile suddenly appeared on her face, which inevitably broke out into a fit of laughter. She wiggled up closer, giving him another kiss that tinkled his insides, then laid her head down on the spot just below his neck and felt his arms wrap more protectively around her.

She sighed deeply as she closed her eyes, never remembering feeling so at peace with herself.

Just before Clark and her fell into a tranquil sleep, she concluded simply, "And they all lived happily ever after."

a.n. "i carry you in my heart" is by e. e. cummings and "Sonnet 17" is by Pablo Neruda. i only wish i could write stuff like that. lol 


End file.
